


In and Out

by ElysianWonders



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Cute, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional, F/F, Fluff, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Illnesses, Love, Mild Smut, Romance, Sickfic, emotion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25686799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElysianWonders/pseuds/ElysianWonders
Summary: Having an immune disorder for Joohyun is incredibly difficult, especially when it comes to achieving and reaching her goals and having a social life. She yearns to see the outside, especially the beach. Until she met a boy next door who wants to help her fulfill her dreams.After her mother discovered their relationship, Mrs. Bae didn't want to accept it and tried keeping her daughter away from the boy. Joohyun is tired of her mother's strict rules and decides to leave home for a few weeks. So she called her neighbor and went on a trip with him far away from their neighborhood, only to get herself into trouble.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Kudos: 14





	1. The Girl Who Lives in a House

**Author's Note:**

> A LITTLE REMINDER THAT THIS CONTAINS VIOLENT SCENES AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE (THERE WILL BE A LITTLE AMOUNT OF SMUT TOO)
> 
> Comment your thoughts(or criticism) below too! I would like to read your comments :)

People are always free to go everywhere. They can go to malls, parks, clubs, everywhere in different times. You can go everywhere in the world because you have a strong and healthy immune system.

Okay, let's have a quick trivia about the immune system. They are the ones that help fight and remove infections and toxins inside your body. Since the air outside has bacteria, the immune system makes us _immune_ to those organisms whenever we breathe.

Sadly, not all people have healthy and strong immune systems, just like Joohyun.

Bae Joohyun is born with a disease named SCID, also known as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency. She has little immune cells and she have to stay in her house for her whole life.

She's sensitive to the outside world and she barely had a chance to experience the outdoors. Sitting in her desk with her eyes glued to the paper, Joohyun finally finished her drawing of a parrot. She beamed at the paper and stared at it with a satisfied look.

Joohyun is also gifted on having professional drawing, dancing and singing skills. Even thought she couldn't share her flawless talent to the public, her parents are always there to be her audience.

Her room is also decorated like the outdoors. The wallpaper of her room is jungle themed while the ceiling is painted like the lovely blue sky with tiny little birds flying. Her father also constructed a large window in front of her desk for her to explore the outside by looking at the window.

"Looks good!" grinned Joohyun, giving her drawing a loving look when she heard her mother calling her from downstairs.

"Joohyun,"

The girl got up from her chair and ran downstairs with a smile on her face. "Eomma," Joohyun hurtled down the stairs when her mother turned her head to her daughter from preparing the dining table. "Joohyun, be careful on going down the stairs!" Her mother sternly told her as soon as Joohyun stood right in front of her.

"I'm sorry but Eomma, look!" Joohyun showed her drawing to her mother proudly.

Mrs. Bae took the paper from her and peered at the drawing. "This looks nice, sweetie." Mrs. Bae gave her daughter a fond smile.

"Can I have this for my birthday? I really wanted a pet since I was eleven." Joohyun gave her a small pout. Mrs. Bae let out a soft sigh and shook her head without any response.

"Aw, why?" Joohyun took her arm while staring at her with pleading eyes. "Joohyun, haven't I told you that you're allergic to animals?" Mrs. Bae asked her gently. Her right hand is currently cupping Joohyun's left cheek while her other hand is holding her arm. "But, mom, maybe my allergies already disappeared!" Joohyun sat down on the chair right beside her hip. "We're still not sure about it, sweetie. Your doctor is going to be mad if we bought you one."

"Dr. Joo again," Joohyun sighed exasperatedly, her head jerking upwards. She is clearly annoyed by her doctor who keeps telling her the same advices and keeps sticking sticky notes everywhere in the house.

"I know, sweetie. But it's for your own good." explained Mrs. Bae, giving her daughter her favorite meal, Tteokbokki.

"You already told me the same phrase over and over again, mom. Can we just talk about something else?" Joohyun rests her elbow beside her plate and placed her head on top of it lazily. "Alright," chuckled Mrs. Bae. "Anyways, we'll have a surprise for you for your upcoming birthday!"

"Oh? Really?" Joohyun's doe eyes widened right after her mother said that. "Yup! But, of course, we won't tell you." Her mother smirked mischievously.

"I already know that." Joohyun waved her hand in front of Mrs. Bae. Joohyun then took her chopsticks and started eating her meal. She knew that her parents will have a birthday present for her. They've been doing this to her since she was born and none of them forget about her special day. After all, she is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Bae so all of their attention is on her.

Sometimes, having all of the attention makes Joohyun a little uneasy. But she loves her parents no matter what.  
  
  


Back inside the bedroom after eating, Joohyun is now sitting on her desk with her round glasses on while answering several questions in a book. She let out a dull sigh and removed her glasses tiredly.

"I should continue my homework later. I'm starting to get bored." Joohyun cutely puffed up her cheeks as she gazed at the drawing taped on top of her bed. "Dad, how are you?" Joohyun turned to look at her drawing of a stickman, which is her dad, when she was a child beside her book.

"I wanted to go out already." sighed Joohyun. "When do you think my sickness will go away?" Her eyes twinkled in anticipation.

"Do you think tomorrow? Next week?"

She continued to stare at her drawing with a weak smile. "I missed you, I wish that you never died from cancer."

"Joohyun?" Mrs. Bae softly knocked on her door before opening it slowly. Joohyun stood up from her chair and looked at her mother. "Yeah?" replied Joohyun. "I'm going to the grocery store. What do you want me to buy?" queried Mrs. Bae. "Umm, I think I would need another box of pencils." shrugged Joohyun.

"Nothing else?"

"...ramen?"

Joohyun gave her a grin when Mrs. Bae ignored her and closed the door of her room. "Alright, bye!" giggled Joohyun as she sat back on her chair. Another day of her mom going out to go to the grocery store.

If only she had a twin or a friend who has the same condition as her who could play or talk to her to avoid boredom. Joohyun then sighed and leaned against her chair, staring at the sky blue ceiling of her bedroom. She may look blank and expressionless but a lot of things are happening in her head.

Joohyun keeps on imagining herself taking her first step on the outdoors, feeling the fresh air without feeling any burning sensation on her skin and lungs. In fact, Joohyun had friends from elementary to high school but her mom refuses them to visit her, which is sad. So she'll have to watch her friends from outside.

Her friends usually plays outside her house and kept on waving and smiling at her through the window. But nowadays, her friends rarely passed by her house and they forgot about her.

So she wished and prayed that she'll go outside once on her eighteenth birthday. But if it doesn't happen, then she'll have to wait another year...then another...and another.  
  
  


Joohyun found herself standing in the middle of a vast area filled with green, dewy grass. She looked down and saw numerous flowers of different varieties right in front of her. All of the flowers shone in her eyes, the rays of sunshine gleaming behind towering mountains and hills.

She took her time examining and staring at the nature and took a short walk around the magical place. After a while of walking, she saw a little creature hiding beneath pink flowers.

Looking curious, she knelt down and went a little closer to see the creature. It is a white bunny, staring at her with its tiny little eyes. Seeing the bunny, she took it with gentle hand and pats its head. "I should name you 'Irene'! I'm giving you this name because I found it pretty. Especially that you're my favorite kind of animal." giggled the girl.

She was about to explore more around the area when she heard her mother calling her from downstairs, which ruins her imagination. Sighing with a Lego man on her hand, she got up from her bed and ran downstairs to see Mrs. Bae carrying a dozen paper bags.

"Have you bought ramen today?" asked Joohyun with eyes full of hope and anticipation. "Sorry, dear, but I didn't bought any of those today. You should take a break on eating ramen." sighed Mrs. Bae while bringing two boxes of milk inside the fridge. "Aw, fine." Joohyun's face became gloomy as she watched her mother closing the fridge.

"Can you please put those paper bags under the counter? Thank you," Mrs. Bae gave her daughter a genuine smile before heading upstairs. Joohyun puffed her cheeks adorably and picked up the empty paper bags obediently.

"I'm bored, I wanted to go outside." hissed the girl while putting the paper bags under the kitchen counter lazily.

"Why am I even sick?" Joohyun clicked her tongue when her mother came back in the kitchen. "Thank you so much, dear. And also, I bought some new paint for you!" grinned Mrs. Bae. "Alright, stay here, I'll be finding the paint that I bought in the store." Mrs. Bae went out of the kitchen again with a thrilled smile. Meanwhile, Joohyun, who is standing beside the kitchen counter with her arms crossed, chuckled and shrugged.

"Well, I think new paint is much better that ramen." giggled the girl before heading out of the kitchen.

Right after her mother gave her the new art kit, Joohyun ran upstairs and immediately tested them one by one. "Good quality! A good thing mom knows which paint is good or not." Joohyun grinned, painting her drawing of the white bunny. Her mom knows what her daughter really likes and needs and tried to make her daughter happy always.

Joohyun is also grateful for having a mother like her. She hopes that someday, she'll also be like her to her future children.

But the girl suddenly looked crestfallen after realizing that she can't go out and meet other people in the world. She'll just remain in the house for ages for her mother couldn't afford the bone marrow transplant for her.

That's the only way for her to live a normal life. Her mother, especially Joohyun herself, really wanted that transplant, but they didn't have enough money. Mrs. Bae is currently working as a pediatrician in a local hospital after Joohyun is born. Mrs. Bae know her daughter's condition but still let another doctor check on Joohyun because she doesn't want to harm her own daughter.

Her thoughts dug deeper and deeper when she heard soft knocks on her door. "Joohyun? This is Dr. Joo." said a soft yet infuriating voice of a woman. With a sigh, Joohyun stood up from her chair and opened the door to see Dr. Joo, a woman with a kind face yet sharp eyes, bringing a bulky, dirty grey shoulder bag full of what Joohyun assume is a humongous pile of sticky notes.

"Let's get started on checking you up then, Joohyun." said Dr. Joo with a smile. "Yes, Dr. Joo," responded Joohyun, stiffly sitting on her bed.

Joohyun couldn't help but roll her eyes every time the doctor looked away from her. It became a habit of hers already after all that annoying advice.

"Alright, let's get started on checking you, Joohyun." smiled the doctor when Joohyun gave her another stiff smile. She then took the stethoscope in her bag and checked the girl's heart with patient face.

Mrs. Bae is watching them in the doorway, looking both apprehensive and expressionless at the same time. Meanwhile, Joohyun couldn't help but slide a little father away from the doctor since her face is inches away from the doctor's.

"Alright, your heart's fine, Joohyun! Now let's get to the next procedure." The doctor stood up from the bed and looked around the bedroom with avid eyes. Joohyun reluctantly followed the doctor and stood beside her. "So..." paused Dr. Joo, getting the checklist from her bag. "Have you drank your maintenance?"

"Yes, doctor,"

"What about eating the diet I gave you last week?"

"Yup,"

"Do you opened the windows of your bedroom?"

"Of course not, Dr. Joo. I mean, how would I even open it when it couldn't—"

"Alright, alright," chuckled the doctor while waving her hands in front of the girl. Joohyun, in the other hand, did the same but deep inside she felt an urge to walk out of her bedroom and avoid the doctor. The check up took like 15 minutes plus the doctor putting more colorful sticky notes all over the house, which made Joohyun even more irritated than before.

The first time Joohyun met Dr. was is quite dull after giving her inflated gloves again and again until she became twelve. Even at first sight, Joohyun already knew that she's a lame doctor. Mrs. Bae agreed to her when she was still a little child.

"Done! I've already put all of your reminders, Joohyun. Make sure to follow them!" beamed the doctor before putting her sticky notes back in her bulky shoulder bag. "That's all for today, then! Have a beautiful day, Joohyun." The doctor pats the girl's back before giving a polite bow to Mrs. Bae.

"I'll be going now, Mrs. Bae. See you next week!" chirped Dr. Joo when Mrs. Bae gave her a lazy wave and watch the doctor leaving the house.

"Finally!" Joohyun sighed loudly while throwing herself in the couch.

"You must've been extremely bored, sweetie." giggled Mrs. Bae with her arms crossed and standing right behind the couch where the girl lay.

"Of course, I am, mom, who wouldn't be bored with that kind of doctor who keeps on giving the same stuff over and over again?" Joohyun giggled as she got up from the couch. "Oh!" gasped Mrs. Bae. Joohyun glanced at her mother and saw her running out of the house. "She forgot to water the plants again." laughed the girl as she looked out of the window just beside the couch to Mrs. Bae hastily opening her gardening hose.

"I wish I could water the plants instead of her. So I could see those pretty flowers up close." muttered Joohyun, watching her mother with a dreamy gaze. Mrs. Bae saw her daughter and gave her a wave. The girl waved back and grinned like a little kid.

Mrs. Bae let out a hearty laugh and remembered her daughter when she was a child. With Joohyun playing with her dolls right in front of the window and pretends that she's outside of house makes Mrs. Bae's heart soften until now.

But as more years past for Joohyun, life will be harder for her. Mrs. Bae could only hope for her to have a better future.  
  
  


Surfing the internet in her phone, Joohyun saw a peculiar looking creature in her phone. She peered at the photo and zoomed in the picture using her fingers.

The creature has a posture shaped like the letter 'S' and also has a curled tail. With utter confusion and curiosity, she walked out of her bedroom and went down the stairs to ask her mother.

"Mom," called Joohyun with her eyes still sticked on her phone. Mrs. Bae, who is busy cooking food for dinner, promptly turned her head at her daughter. "Yes, sweetie? Do you want to eat now?" asked Mrs. Bae when Joohyun finally reached the ground and showed her the picture of the odd creature.

"Is this a real creature, mom?" Joohyun gave her a quirked brow when Mrs. Bae genuinely smiled at her daughter's question.

"It is!" chirped Mrs. Bae. "Then, what is it?"

"It's a seahorse, Joohyun. You can see them somewhere in the ocean." Mrs. Bae turned the stove off and covering the pot full of hot seaweed soup with its cover. "Really? They look unusual!" commented Joohyun before looking back at the picture. "I also thought of that when I was a child." said Mrs. Bae, facing her only daughter.

"Then I kept asking your grandmother why the sky is blue, why we breathe air, just like you." Mrs. Bae playfully tapped her Joohyun's cute nose. "What? I was like that when I was a kid?" Joohyun gave her an incredulous look. "Of course! You're dad even tried to stop you from asking those questions by giving you ramen and Tteokbokki."

"Really, huh?" Joohyun let out a soft chuckle. Then she remembered how her father just died in his sleep. Her young self didn't even know what happen and just laughed it off, thinking that her father is just playing jokes on her.

"Sweetie?"

Joohyun shook her head violently and looked at her mother. "Are you alright?" Mrs. Bae came near to her daughter when Joohyun quickly nodded. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Anyways, I'm going to draw this." said the girl, showing the picture of a seahorse. Mrs. Bae nodded and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, mom." Irene faked a grin before walking back upstairs.

She could still feel the piercing sensation in her chest. Joohyun remembered that she couldn't leave her father's grave. She also remember that...

She'll never go outside.

She couldn't go where she wants to go.

She'll just live her whole life in this house.

Tears now started to fall on her eyes. Why is she even here when she'll just stay in this dumb house. No one told her that she'll never go outside but the words 'it's okay' and 'you'll go outside someday' just doesn't come true. She felt that her whole life is a lie. The hope that she had when she was a kid just started to disappear after years and years of being trapped inside home.

The girl looked around her room an saw her drawing of a beach just above her bed. She sat on the bed and stared at it with tears stains displayed on her cheeks and her eyes looking red and puffy.

"I-I want to go..." muttered Irene. "B-But...but..."

She lost her words right after. Her dream is just to go to the beach and feel the salty water touching her skin, seeing seagulls flying upon her and fish swimming in the blue water. Without a word, she cried and cried until she fell asleep on her own bed.


	2. The Neighbor Nextdoor

"Joohyun,"

The girl abruptly sat up from her bed to see her mother looking at her in surprise. She hissed softly after feeling a headache.

She cried like an hour and could barely even open her eyes. "Sweetie, come on now. I'll give you a snack." said Mrs. Bae, jogging out of the bedroom to get snacks for her daughter. Joohyun, meanwhile, yawned and looked around the area with her eyes half-closed.

"Alright...looks fine..." muttered the girl before rubbing her eyes. But then, she looked disappointed and sat on her chair near her desk to take a moment of silence.

So during her sleep, she had a dream where she visited the beach. She could really feel the grains of sand touching her own feet and hear seagulls flying above her. It felt real and she threw herself into the water with a help of a life vest since she doesn't know how to swim.

All of that is just a...dream.

"Here you go, sweetie." Mrs. Bae arrived in the bedroom, carrying a small plate with two cupcakes in it. Joohyun watched her mother put the plate right in front of her and gave her a grin. "Thanks, mom." thanked the girl before eating her cupcakes silently. Mrs. Bae smiled back and watch her eat the cupcakes that she made. "You look disappointed, sweetie. Is there something wrong?"

Joohyun froze on her spot and widened her eyes. It seems like her mother could read her whole mind. "W-What? No!" The girl contradicted simply.

"Joohyun, I'm your mother, I know if you're—"

"Alright, alright!" Joohyun clicked her tongue. "I just had a dream about going to the beach! That's all!" retorted Joohyun, now looking a little pissed at her mother.

"Okay then," sighed Mrs. Bae. "So you're just disappointed because you thought it was real?"

"Yes, of course..." Her voice became a little smaller and weaker. Joohyun already experienced these stuff since she's still a small child. Her mother would sometimes comfort her because she couldn't go outdoors. "Come here," Mrs. Bae embrace her daughter with warm arms.

Joohyun could still feel annoyance towards her mother but hugs her back to remove the pain inside. "I promise, I really promise that you'll go outdoors, sweetie. Trust me," whispered Mrs. Bae. But Joohyun blocked those words and continued to have apprehensive thoughts.

_'Mom's wrong, I'll never go outside ever.'_  
  


A week later, Dr. Joo came back to their house and took another checkup on Joohyun. Things are just the same again with the doctor checking her heartbeat and temperature and putting more sticky notes all over the house.

The girl doesn't know why her relationship with the doctor became more and more worse even though she didn't even do anything bad to her.

But still, her hatred towards the doctor is sincere, and she's not gonna change it...until something unexpected happens during her boring checkups.

People also used to visit the house. But only Mrs. Bae's friend, Park Sooyoung, and her daughter which is Joohyun's friend, Park Joy. Joy was Joohyun's one and only friend and visited her almost everyday with her mother coming with her. Both the mother and daughter are humble towards Joohyun and both are very fond of her.

Joy even knows what to do before visiting her friend and tried protecting her whenever she saw any dirty spots in the house. Before playing, Joy cleans all of Joohyun's dolls, the doll's accessories and her Legos with a wet tissue.

Joohyun couldn't even forget the moment where she and her friend almost broke the paintings that Mrs. Bae created in the living room. Her childhood was really fun with Joy. But their friendship slowly faded through the years after the Park Family moved to another house. Plus, Joohyun tried contacting her, yet nothing happened and Joy haven't even talked to her for months.

It's hard to forgot about the moment they left the neighborhood. To Joohyun, it felt like a part of her soul just disappeared.

Looking at the letter Joy had gave her before leaving, she weakly smiled at the curvy and elegant handwriting of her previous friend:

_'Hey, Joohyun! I'm sorry that we couldn't see each other before we leave but please take care of yourself without me! I hope you'll visit the beach in the future. I also gave you a picture of me in a beach for you to see what it's like there! Well, I know that's another picture but I promise that I'll give you a video of it tomorrow for full experience! And also, all I really wanted to say is that I hope that we'll see each other in the near future! Don't forget about me too once I leave. See you!'_

Joohyun then turned the paper over to see her friend on a swimming suit while wearing a pair of black goggles on top of her head, her arms raised in the air and a joyful grin on her lips.

Even though they haven't talked to each other for years, Joohyun still miss her and even waited for the video of the beach that she promised. She thinking that Joy must've have avoid using her gadgets for studying, her mother is also strict towards her when it comes to handling gadgets.

Joohyun is also attending a university while taking an architect course. She's also been practicing on building their house out of Legos and puts lights inside it to look more realistic. Sometimes, out of boredom, she built a whole city out of Legos, filling her whole desk with it.

Because of that Mrs. Bae gave her a bigger desk, a few inches larger than her previous one.

The new desk has multiple drawers and even has a container for her paints, paintbrushes, pencils and markers. "Thanks, mom! This desk is the best!" grinned Joohyun, giving her mother a warm, tight hug.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Mom will always be there for you." whispered Mrs. Bae in Joohyun's crown. Joohyun could feel her hot breath tickling her head and let go of her with a smile.

"Anyways, I'll be taking a nap. I got tired after cleaning the whole house." giggled Mrs. Bae, kissing Joohyun's forehead lovingly. "Alright," grinned the girl before her mom left the bedroom.  
  


Dinner in the kitchen is quiet after Mrs. Bae left to take care of the garden. Joohyun never felt this downcast in her life and ate her meal in a slow pace, her thought flying around her mind.

After all those tiring thoughts, she tried to avoid them by using her phone. She clicked on a video where a group of girls sing and dance and puts her phone right beside her plate. The dance was powerful and even difficult after all those exaggerating arm movements and puzzling footwork. The song has full of raps and the vocal parts just lasted like a few seconds.

The girls singing in the video are both excellent at singing and rapping, quite stable to be short.

Joohyun watched them with pure admiration and forgot about her meal. If only she could also be like them in the future. She just doesn't want her talent to go to waste, she wants to show everyone her singing, dancing and art skills even in her condition. She wanted to be an inspiration to people.

Mrs. Bae won't let her even have her own channel in the internet because Joohyun should not use her laptop or any gadgets more than an hour or two.

"Joohyun? Didn't I tell you to not use your phone while eating?" Joohyun heard her mother's sharp voice from the window in the living room. "Sorry!" responded the girl before turning her phone off and placing it face down in the same spot.

Mrs. Bae shook her head slowly at her daughter who is back to eating her meal and went back to gardening.

After finishing her meal after an hour, she went back to her own routine of drawing and practicing her dancing and singing skills. Just a normal day where no disturbance are present around her area and enjoy doing her stuff.

"One and two and three and four," instructed the dancer as she slowly did the footwork of the dance Joohyun was watching some time ago.

It's hard and you'll have to do the same move in a fast pace. Joohyun tried copying it, not even daring to give up on the dance she's learning. She's already got this. She's been dancing for almost seven years now. "Oh damn it! I messed up again!" Joohyun adorably covered her face with her bare hands and stomped the floor playfully.

Feeling tired after practicing the dance for another hour, she sat on the ground and drank her bottle of water. "Another day of staying in the house." sighed Joohyun before looking out of the massive window.

A boy was watching her with his chin rested on top of his palm, looking mesmerized by her dance moves seconds ago.

Joohyun looked surprised after seeing the guy. She had never seen him in her entire life. The girl got up from the frigid floor and waved at the guy with a warm and cordial beam. He saw her actions and shyly waved back, bashfully scratching his neck.

The boy is handsome and has an attractive jawline. He also has the most fluffiest hair Joohyun had ever seen, making look both lovely and cool at the same time. Heart pounding inside her chest, she gave him another smile when the guy opened his window and told her to do the same. Joohyun refused his request by shaking her head and took a piece of paper and a marker from her desk.

The boy watched her patiently and read the note that Joohyun wrote on that piece of paper.

_'Could we just talk through phones?' I'll tell you why I can't open my own window.'_

He looked perplexed after reading the message and took a piece of paper and a pencil.

_'Sure, this is my number:'_

The boy wrote his number under his message. Joohyun nodded and copied the number to her phone before doing the same thing. After giving each other's numbers, Joohyun thanked him by smiling at him and texted him in her phone.

_'Hey,'_

The guy sheepishly smiled and looked at his phone.

_'Hey to you too'_

_'What's your name? Are you also new here?'_

Joohyun placed her phone beside her and stared at the boy with eyes full of pure interest. _'He seems kind and gentle. He kept scratching his head too.'_ She giggled internally while catching the boy scratching his head again.

_'Seungwan. And yes, we're new here. What about you?'_

_'Joohyun, you have a cool name.'_

He blushed furiously and tried hiding his face from the girl. Joohyun, in the other hand, couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. Was he always flustered whenever someone compliments him?

Joohyun's inquisitive side came to life and asked some more questions.

_'When did you arrive in our neighborhood?'_

_'My father works near here. So we decided to move here so our father wouldn't travel an hour from work to here and vice versa.'_ He gave her a little shrug through the window.

_'So may I know why you couldn't open your window?'_

The boy looked at her in the eye for the first time without even looking away immediately. Joohyun did the same, but unconsciously.

_'First of all, you can see that lock outside it. My father locked that for me because I'm sick.'_

His eyes turned to the tiny lock in the bottom part of the window and nodded avidly.

_'Sorry if this is too personal but what kind of sickness do you have? Is it a long term one or is it just short term?'_

_'Are you a doctor?'_

_'Well, I am dreaming to be a doctor.'_

Joohyun chuckled at his response. She could really feel this deep connection between her and Seungwan even after they just met.

_'A long term one, actually. It's actually an immune disorder. And...I'm not allowed to go outside because I could feel my whole lungs in fire...something like that.'_

Joohyun slowly lowered her phone so she could see his reaction. He seemed politely shocked after reading the message. Now the girl felt abashed and deeply regrets what she had done.

 _'Sorry about that. I'm saying too much about myself.'_ Joohyun hastily texted on her phone and send it before letting him type back.

_'No, you don't need to apologize! I'm the one who asked actually.'_

"Joohyun? Sweetie? Where are you? I'm back home!"

The girl almost jumped from her chair after hearing her mother's voice. She then looked back at Seungwan who is looking at her in concern. Joohyun looked at her phone and typed in it in a swift, careless manner, _'Sorry, I gotta go. My mom's here. See you tomorrow!!'_

"I'm coming, mom!" yelled Joohyun as she hurtled down the stairs, almost tripping herself as soon as she arrived in the living room. "Joohyun? Could please charge my phone?" said Mrs. Bae while handing her phone to her daughter. Joohyun was about to take it when her mother muttered, "Wait,"

Her mother forgot to wipe her phone with wipes before handing it to Joohyun. "Here you go, I just forgot to clean it." grinned Mrs. Bae, giving her phone to Joohyun. The girl playfully rolled her eyes and went upstairs to charge her phone somewhere in her mom's bedroom.

She've already plugged the phone in the charger and looked out of the window in her mom's bedroom. It's a little smaller than her own window and it's also locked while she's living with Joohyun.

The girl took a little peek outside to check Seungwan and saw him waiting with his eyes glued to her window. Was he trying to say something to her? Or is he thinking about her—?

"Joohyun! Could you help me here?"

With a sigh, she stood in the doorway to have one, last glance at the guy and left.


	3. Texting and Egg Cake

Night arrived in the whole neighborhood and houses turned their lights off, ready to sleep. The girl lying in bed seemed to be wide awake, not even feeling a hint of drowsiness. Tucked comfortably in her bed, her eyes are busy watching the miniscule stars displayed up in the dark night sky gleaming weakly and dully at her.

She's been like this for a while when Joohyun's eyes landed on her neighbor, sleeping, with his back facing her.

Her whole being soften at the sight and smiled. She's thankful for having such a huge window beside her bed to check him time to time. Feeing all inquisitive all of a sudden, she decided to have a peek of his bedroom by adjusting her position in bed.

Seungwan's room is still full of huge boxes with books and other stuff placed on top of them.

 _'They just moved recently, wow.'_ thought Joohyun with her face looking slightly bemused. Being her humble self, she wanted to help Seungwan clean the bedroom and wanted to welcome the family in their neighborhood.

Her eyes started to water after realizing that she can't do those stuff, her face now looking hopeless and crestfallen as ever. When she was about to shed a tear, she saw Seungwan sitting up from his bed and taking his phone from his desk, which is just in front of the window.

Joohyun's eyes widened and subconsciously did the same actions. Does he stay up late frequently. The girl, who is now very curious on what Seungwan is doing, watched him checking the time from his phone. Then her heart suddenly raised after seeing him looking behind his back, making both of them have eye contact.

Without even thinking, Seungwan waved at the girl with a bright smile. Joohyun smiled back and waved back in an excited manner.

Opening her phone, she saw a notification of Seungwan saying, _'I was waiting for you.'_

She gave him a questioning look and texted back, _'Huh? Why?'_

_'Nothing, just bored.'_

_'Ha, funny...'_ Joohyun tried her best keep her face straight while taking a quick glimpse of the boy.

_'Anyways, my family and I are going to clean up the house since some of our stuff are still inside those huge boxes. And, my sister is here, sleeping right beside me.'_

_'You have a sister?'_

Joohyun lowered her phone and craned her neck to take a brief glance of Seungwan's sister.

He let out a hearty chuckle and send a message back at Joohyun.

_'She's actually sleeping in the floor. Her bedroom is dusty after the previous owner left this house for a few years.'_

_'I know, that house used to be my friend's house. Just saying,'_

_'Really? Where is she now?'_

_'Somewhere far away from this neighborhood. She haven't contact me after she left.'_

Joohyun puts her phone on her desk and noticed that Seungwan was trying to send his sister back to sleep. She could clearly see the little girl crying, probably after having a nightmare. Seungwan then carried his six-year-old sister and placed her in his lap.

His sister clung to his body securely and nuzzled her face on her brother's neck.

Joohyun smiled lovingly after seeing how Seungwan took care of his little sister. The boy made eye contact with her and saw that smile, making him purse his lips shyly.

 _'Your sister is adorable, Seungwan.'_ Joohyun sends her message to Seungwan with hearty giggle.

 _'Sure, you can say that. She may be this cute when sleeping but she's a real rascal when awake. She keeps nagging me to play with her while I study.'_ Seungwan replied. It took him a while to answer after only using his right hand for holding his phone.

_'So since we're trying to know about each other, what would you want to do in life?'_

Joohyun thought of many, many stuff. She wanted to go outside and explore, she wanted to go to malls and parks, she wants to meet new friends and especially, she wanted to visit the beach. It's her dream, one of her goals in life. But there are lots and lots of stuff she wanted to do in life, but Joohyun felt like it's too late to do so.

With a deep breath, she started to type and sends it to Seungwan.

_'Just wanting some new friends, exploring the outside world and going to the beach. I always wanted to go there since I was little.'_

_'Interesting. I mean, we're friends now...right?'_

Seungwan gave her an awkward but adorable grin when Joohyun nodded fervently and texted, _'Of course! But I really wanted you to visit my house.'_

_'Well, sure! I'll try then!'_

Joohyun squealed at his reply and covered her face with both hands, looking exactly like a bunny. Seungwan giggled and noticed that Joohyun resembles much of a bunny. He then secretly named her 'Bunny Joohyun' in his phone.  
  


"Joohyun, wake up, it's already eleven in the morning."

Joohyun slowly opened her eyes and woke up to see her mother giving her a stern look. The girl yawned and stretched, not even caring at her mother's now cross expression.

"Why are you waking up so late? Aren't you supposed to get enough sleep?" Mrs. Bae scolded her daughter who just sat up on her bed, feeling a little befuddled and dazed. "What time is it again, mom?" asked Joohyun, looking at her mother with her face puffy and her hair disheveled.

"It's already 11:15 AM. Get up now. Up. Up." nagged Mrs. Bae while forcing her daughter to stand up. Joohyun, who is feeling too groggy to argue, followed her orders and went downstairs to go to the bathroom and changed clothes.

Joohyun went out of the bathroom looking neat and clean but couldn't help but kept on yawning whatever she's doing. This annoys Mrs. Bae and decided to talk to her daughter while watching her eat her meal.

"What were you doing last night?" Mrs. Bae narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the girl when Joohyun sighed tiredly. "Mom, could you please give it a rest for a while? I just woke up," whined Joohyun when her mother refused her request. "No, I'm not going to stop because I'm worried of your health, Joohyun!" said Mrs. Bae.

"What were you doing last night?" demanded Mrs. Bae when Joohyun tried to remember what happened last night.

First, she remembered her looking at the stars in the night sky, next she and Seungwan texted each other and had a laugh together, and third, she slept at probably 1 AM in the morning after endless thoughts about Seungwan.

Oh no.

"Well..." Joohyun paused, trying to speak as steady as possibly. "I was busy making art, mom. I mean, you already know me that I like drawing." The girl responded simply while making quick glances at her mother's face.

"I went to your room, Joohyun. And I couldn't see the lights open under your door." Mrs. Bae quirked her brow at her daughter.

"U-Um, then, I was drawing the moon and the stars, mom. And also, I was using the moonlight to draw." Joohyun gave her mother an innocent grin. "Gosh, Joohyun. Stop doing that or you'll be blind if you keep on doing that!"

"Alright!" Joohyun rolled her eyes before going back to eating. She 's a little surprised after her mother believed her make up story. But at least she doesn't know that she was chatting with her neighbor.

After eating, Joohyun went back to her usual routine in her bedroom, undisturbed. Her mother is busy washing the dishes and might've clean the house after doing that. It's the perfect time for her to talk to Seungwan again. So before she texted Seungwan again, she peeked through his window is he's doing anything necessary in his place.

Seungwan and his sister are helping each other cleaning the whole bedroom. Joohyun watched the siblings mopping the floor together with a smile.

The little girl stopped mopping and sighed, looking weary and knackered. Joohyun do expect her to be tired after the mop is inches taller than the girl. She looked up to her brother told him something probably about being exhausted in working. Seungwan nodded and watched his sister leaving the bedroom, bringing the mop with her.

Seungwan's sister then said something to him and left the bedroom while bringing the mop with her, causing Joohyun to look bewildered at her actions. Seungwan turned his head to check Joohyun's window and saw her, making him wave happily at her.

Waving back, she took her phone from her desk, saying, _'Why did your sister left the bedroom?'_

_'Oh, just getting some rest after cleaning my bedroom for an hour. We told her that she could just play outside but she refused and helped us instead.'_

_'I see, what's her name?'_

_'Seunghyeon, just a mix of my mother's and father's name.'_

_'Cute,'_

_'So...I was thinking if we could visit your house? Like, is it okay for your mother?'_

_'She's actually in the bedroom, sleeping.'_

_'Alright! Me and my sister are going to be there for a while.'_

Then Seungwan dropped his phone at his desk and waved goodbye to Joohyun before running out of his bedroom.

"He's cute," muttered Joohyun. She seemed to like Seungwan. From his fluffy hair to his soft heart, she felt like she's already talking to her soulmate.

Sadly, her mother refused her to have a relationship because of her said condition. Why is she even born like this? She's already tired of her mother's strict rules. All she wanted is to be free from everything and do whatever she wanted.

Getting a little bored after Seungwan left, she decided to draw his face in a bond paper. She smirked cheekily at her idea and started right away without any further ado.

And hopefully, her mother wouldn't bother her again after waking up.  
  


Joohyun made approximately three to five drawings of Seungwan in different kinds of drawings like cartoonish and realistic ones. She couldn't help but keep on smiling and giggling at her drawings when her mother knocked on the door softly.

She swiftly took her papers and hid it under her desk to prevent her mother from seeing it.

"Joohyun? Are you already hungry?" asked Mrs. Bae when Joohyun turned her head at her. "Yes, please. I'm starting to feel a little hungry." chirped Joohyun before standing up from the chair and skipping out of the bedroom. Mrs. Bae followed her behind and closed the door of the bedroom. "What would you like to eat then? Do you like to eat sandwich?"

"Yes, mom. Thank you,"

Mrs. Bae nodded and went to the kitchen to make a snack for her daughter. Joohyun, meanwhile, opened the TV and watched a romantic movie. She loves watching either action or romantic movies because she could feel the experience and adventures of the outside world.

There, she sees a couple flirting with each other like holding hands and hugging each other in public. The girl loves romantic and action movies. It's because she could see what it's really like to be in the outside world. Some genres do the same thing but she actually preferred those two instead.

Watching the movie a little further, she sees them kissing passionately while watching the sun setting in the horizon.

Joohyun suddenly feel butterflies in her stomach during the kissing scenes. She's been used to those scenes but this time, she is feeling awkward and embarrassed.

She took the remote from the center table and turned the TV off, her face now turning a light shade of pink. What was that about? Why was she feeling this way? Probably because she's been thinking of someone doing that with her.

Taking a pillow, she smacked her face with it and squealed uncontrollably. Mrs. Bae heard her muffled squeals and ran to her in panic.

"Joohyun? Are you alright?" questioned Mrs. Bae, who is now looking alarmed at her daughters actions. Joohyun removed the pillow from her and gazed at her mother like nothing had happened. "Nothing, mom. Just seeing them breaking up." lied Joohyun when Mrs. Bae placed her hand in her chest and breathed slowly.

"You're scaring me, sweetie." sighed Mrs. Bae softly. Joohyun looked sorry after seeing her mother panicking and quickly apologized to her mother.

"Fine, fine, anyways, I've already made you sandwich. Enjoy," said Mrs. Bae blankly before walking back in the kitchen, still trying to calm herself down. Usually, Joohyun rarely reacted to a couple kissing or breaking up. She would just put on a small smile or a scowl on her face.

The thought of her and her 'neighbor' doing the same is bothering her, and hard to avoid. She's too whipped for her neighbor.

"No..." sighed Joohyun. Sometimes, she has doubts if she is really sick. Well, she did experience going outside when she was just two years old and could feel the agony in her lungs after taking a deep breath of the fresh air outside. But her insides forced her to believe that she is not sick. Going outside to test if she's sick couldn't work after her mother kept locking the door. All of the windows are closed and can never be opened.

Frustration is all she felt after trying to test herself. Mrs. Bae wouldn't dare let her do anything that is from the outside of the house. Joohyun even tried to find a place where her mom forgots to clean. Unfortunately, all of the places in the house are pristine and scrubbed properly. Then another idea came to mind.

The air inside the house is filtered, so she tried to find a way to 'unfilter' the air inside but gave up after running out of plans.

Again, she's back in her room, looking exhausted after those attempts. Joohyun checked Seungwan's window if he's still there in his bedroom but saw no one inside. She noticed that his room became a lot cleaner and spotless than the previous days.

Is he walking to her house right now?

Then the doorbell rang from downstairs. Joohyun abruptly got up from her seat and went downstairs to see her mother opening the door.

Outside stood Seungwan and Seunghyeon, beaming at Mrs. Bae with Seungwan carrying a plate of egg cake. "Hello, ma'am. Um," paused Seungwan, giving a polite bow in front of Mrs. Bae. "So, I made this for you. We're your new neighbors, ma'am." The boy grinned. Mrs. Bae eyed the cake with a quirked brow and politely smiled back.

"Well, welcome to our neighborhood then! And I'm also sorry that I can't accept that cake. We had a lot in the fridge." Mrs. Bae kindly rejected his egg cake. Seungwan looked a little upset for her not accepting it but Mrs. Bae showed gratitude to him for lightening his mood even just a little bit.

About to close the door before the two siblings, Seungwan stopped her by placing his hand on the door. Mrs. Bae looked a little taken aback by his actions when he quickly apologized her with a bow.

"Sorry, ma'am. But may I know where your daughter is?"

Joohyun, who is standing in the lower part of the stairs, stayed on her spot and watched her mom answering Seungwan's question. Mrs. Bae took a deep breath and shrugged. "She's apparently studying in her room. She also doesn't want to be disturbed. Anyways, goodbye." said Mrs. Bae brusquely before finally closing the door.

Seungwan sighed and looked down at the egg cake sadly. "Oppa, don't be sad. You can still talk to her through your window, right?" The little girl gently pats his brother's lower back.

"Yeah, but I promised her to visit her though. She'll probably be upset."

Turning her back, she saw her daughter standing in her spot, looking a little upset after what happened. Meanwhile, Joohyun quickly hid and went back inside her bedroom.

Mrs. Bae narrowed her eyes and made her way back to the bathroom to clean. Joohyun is now lying on her bed, looking a little disappointed. Why was her mother being like this? Have she already discovered her desire to meet him in person?

She then felt her phone vibrating beside her and took it, checking if it was Seungwan messaging her.

_'Hey, I'm sorry that I couldn't visit you. Your mother was right there in front of me and I thought that it's you doing it.'_

Joohyun sat up and looked through her window. Seungwan is sitting in his desk with his egg cake in front of him. The girl gave him a small smile and texted, _'I know. I thought she went back to sleep again. I'm sorry.'_

_'No, that's fine. My sister even encouraged me to find a much better way to visit you.'_

_'That's lovely. You have a supportive little sister, Seungwan.'_

Both of them laughed softly while looking at each other in the eye.

_'Gotta go now. My dad's calling me to help him. See you later!'_

Seungwan gave a last wave at Joohyun before quickly leaving his bedroom. Joohyun is still mad at her mother for not just letting Seungwan in but because she didn't accept the egg cake that he's bringing. _'Such a waste, she didn't even know how to make one.'_


	4. Secrets Behind Closed Doors

"There must be a way for him to enter the house..." muttered Joohyun, who is currently walking back and forth several times in her bedroom with her thumb and pointer finger rubbing her chin. She's been trying to make plans on how to let Seungwan enter her house. The girl spends hours and hours of planning and thinking but most of them seemed a little impossible and some are just pure nonsense.

If only they met when they were still kids, he'll be able to enter the house without any problem. Well, to be short, Mrs. Bae works in an office when Joohyun was still a few years old and Mrs. Park and Joy would be the ones to keep an eye on her.

But since the two are fond of her so much, they wanted Joohyun to discover and learn the outside world. Unlike her mother who just wants her daughter to live indoors, they tried their best to let Joohyun experience life outside home without hurting her.

Plus, they even encouraged her to wear a suit which looks very like an astronaut's. Of course, Joohyun would like the idea so much after yearning to experience the outdoors for a long time.

Honestly, she hated that costume even after wearing it just twice in her childhood. The actual reason she hated it is because she could hardly make any move when she wears it. Probably because filtered air filled the whole suit which make it puffy and a little huge. Sadly, that's what she only remembered in her childhood where she first stepped out of home.

But even though she hated that costume, she wanted to wear it again like it's the only way to do to go outside without feeling any fiery pain in her lungs.

Dr. Joo even offered her a suit for free just a few months ago. Joohyun wanted to take it but Mrs. Bae refused her offer and will never take that ever again. Rolling her eyes after that memory, she decided to check if her mother is still sitting in the couch. So she went out of her bedroom as silently as she could and went down a few steps of the stairs.

And there, she sees Mrs. Bae sitting at the couch with her finger swiping up and down at her phone screen.

She's been staying like that for nearly an hour and didn't even shifted position, which make Joohyun irritated. Closing the door softly after entering her room again, she released a tired sigh and lied down at her bed to relax her stressful being.

Today's been a dull day, thought Joohyun. All of her energy has been wasted, especially her excitement when Seungwan was about to visit her. Everything sucks. Her mother won't even breathe just for once.

She felt a little drowsy and tucked herself in bed. It felt like she's lying down on a bunch of fluffy feathers and cotton and felt the warmth as soon as she covered her entire body with the blanket. And then, she slept and went to dreamland.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bae couldn't help but keep on thinking about why the boy asked where her daughter is? She didn't even know him and he even had the nerve to ask her. What's up with him?

It felt a little suspicious since Joohyun haven't met anyone like him and the little girl beside him from outside except for Joy and Mrs. Park. Was he trying to do something bad to her daughter? She felt like he's dangerous and tried to find a way to avoid him to enter the house. In her perspective, Joohyun would still open the door when someone random rings the doorbell of their house.

But in reality, Joohyun wouldn't do that and knows when to open the door.

Mrs. Bae's apprehensions continued to rise after thinking of the boy killing her daughter. Joohyun is the only one she got now. She needs to find a way to prevent him to meet up with her daughter.

She got up from the couch and turned her head at the staircase. "Joohyun?"

Joohyun wasn't answering. Mrs. Bae approached the staircase and made her way upstairs to Joohyun's bedroom. She opened the door of her bedroom and saw the girl sleeping in her bed. Mrs. Bae closed the door and sighed. She doesn't want her daughter to be harmed. I have to keep an eye on her more often now, she said in her head.

"Appa! Please stop! Please stop now!" cried the little girl while watching her father punching her brother hard in the face. "You fucking shit, you haven't gotten a job yet?!" screamed the father when Seungwan kneeled in front of him after feeling excruciating pain in his right cheek.

He just realized that his father was wearing a ring with a pointed and miniscule knife in its head.

Now blood trailed down his cheeks into his neck when his father took him by the collar. "Appa!" bawled Seunghyeon while pulling her father's shirt, trying to make him stop hurting her brother. Seungwan took Seunghyeon's arm and pulled her away from his dad.

"I-I can explain—"

"I don't need an explanation! You've been telling me that you've already taken a job but look at you!" yelled his father, droplets of saliva spraying at Seungwan's face.

"I still need to study, Appa! I need to go back to school to achieve my job—"

"I don't want you to study anymore! Just fucking work! We need money and I don't want you to become a fucking doctor!" bellowed the man when he pushed his son to the wall with incredible force, causing him to choke by his actions. "Oppa..." Seungwan slightly turned his head to the right to see his little sister crying, looking afraid and angry at her own father.

"S-Seunghyeon...it's alright..." Seungwan gave her a weak smile. "If I ever see you study, I'll disown you and your filthy ass. Seunghyeon will stay with me."

"O-Oppa..." Seunghyeon watched her brother nodding slowly, trying to tell her that it's okay. "Now go and find a job, you piece of shit! Go!" Mr. Son finally lets go of Seungwan and went straight out of the house.

Seungwan almost choked to death after what happened, collapsed at the floor and coughed violently with some blood coming out of his mouth.

Seunghyeon ran to her brother and hugged him. "Oppa...I don't want to stay with Appa..." sniffed the little girl when he nodded. "I know, it's okay." Seungwan hugged back and pats her back to comfort her. "Sshh, it's done. Appa's gone now." Seungwan gently intoned. "He'll come back anyway! I want to leave home." whined the girl.

"I know but Seunghyeon, you should be brave." Seungwan held both of her shoulders and made her face him. "Look at me, you're a brave girl. I know that, Eomma knows that. So no matter how hard life is, keep fighting and don't give up. It's okay to cry, it's okay to be frustrated, everything's okay. But make sure you should never lose hope. Even at this current situation we're facing now.

"I know you won't easily get what I'm talking about but someday, someday, you'll remember them. I know that you're a sweet and humble girl. Understand?"

The boy stared at his sister in the eye and see her courage even her eyes are full of tears. He wants his sister to know that she is also special. She's been kind to people around them and haven't said anything rude to them.

Slowly and obediently, the girl nodded and hugged her brother. "I will, Oppa." She said, causing Seungwan to chuckle.

Then the girl let go of him and gave him a perplexed look. "Why are you laughing? Aren't you supposed to cry when you're hurt? And you also have a very big cut in your cheek." She adorably pointed the deep cut in his cheek.

"Well, I cry and laugh the pain sometimes." Seungwan simply replied to her sister's question.

"Really? But are you really okay?"

"Of course, I am. Didn't you also tell me that I'm strong?"

"Yup,"

With another giggle, the siblings hugged each other. Their family may be broken but their hearts were still soft and warm. The situation doesn't define them at all. They believe that they'll pass this struggle someday...

"Anyways, let's go back to the bedroom." said Seungwan as he stood up from the ground with a little difficulty. "I'll help you clean that wound. Eomma taught me how to do it." grinned Seunghyeon, her tear stains and puffy eyes still visible after crying a lot. "Really? Sure. I trust you," smiled the boy before he and his sister made their way up to the bedroom.

Joohyun woke up from her bed and sat up with a pout. "Another dream..." sighed the girl before throwing herself back in the mattress.

She's been dreaming again about going to the beach and to the forests WITH Seungwan. Sounds a little crazy but Joohyun felt a little cranky about that. She wanted to go back to sleep again and closed her eyes. But she couldn't go back to sleep.

"That's it," Joohyun clicked her tongue and abruptly stood up from bed. She instantly regrets it after having another headache. "Gosh, I hate this." Joohyun stomped out of her bedroom and into the living room.

Mrs. Bae is in the kitchen waiting for her daughter to come to her. Joohyun got a little surprised after seeing her sitting at the couch for an hour. "Time to eat. I know that you're hungry." said Mrs. Bae blankly, pushing the plate a little near to Joohyun after the girl sat on her seat. "Thanks..." The girl gave her a small smile before eating her sandwich with peanut butter and jelly.

"So..." Mrs. Bae rested her clasped hands on the dining table, looking like she's having an interview with her daughter.

"Do you know that guy?"

"Who guy?"

Mrs. Bae rolled her eyes. "The boy that brought me egg cake and asked me where were you—"

"I'm taking the bathroom, mom. I really felt like peeing." Joohyun grinned innocently as she ran towards the bathroom, leaving Mrs. Bae stunned. Closing and locking the door behind her, she started to feel panic, her heart pounding violently in her chest. Was she trying to avoid Seungwan from meeting her?

"Oh no, what should I do?" Joohyun whispered in a high-pitched voice. "What should I tell her? Should I say yes? Should I say no?

"But if I say yes, she'll probably do something to avoid him. Then if I say no, that would be the same thing!" The girl roamed her eyes nervously around the bathroom then bit her lip. Then not a minute later, Joohyun finally finds her answer. "I should probably say no! 'Cause if I do, then she'll just prevent me from touching the front door after not knowing that we were talking through our phones and through the window! Genius, Joohyun!"

With a flush of exhilaration, Joohyun then grasped the doorknob and opened it, walking back to the dining table. She tried to make her face as normal and oblivious as possible and looked at her mother in the eye.

"So?"

"I actually don't know him. I haven't met a boy like him. Who do you think it is?"

But Mrs. Bae gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! If you won't believe me, then I'll just head back to my bedroom—"

"Alright, alright, I get you." sighed Mrs. Bae, massaging her forehead with both hands. "Anyways, thanks for the snack, mom. It's the best!" Joohyun gave her a thumbs up before sprinting upstairs to her bedroom.

"What was that about?" said Mrs. Bae under her breath. She thinks that the answer wasn't enough. But she's been pressuring her daughter for sure, so she tried to ignore by taking a short nap at the couch.

Back to her bedroom, Joohyun started checking Seungwan if he was there. And there he was, sitting at his desk with Seunghyeon playing with her dolls at the bed. Joohyun was about to take her phone and message him when she noticed a deep cut at his right cheek. She gasped at the sight of it, wondering what had happened to him.

Seungwan is reading a book named 'Book of Diseases and Injuries and Antidotes for Curing Them'. He really wanted to be a doctor. Probably because he wants to save people like a hero, thought Joohyun.

The boy closed the book and sighed, looking weary and tired. What really happened?

But her managed to give her a bright smile brighter than the sun while waving at her. Getting his phone from his bed, he texted, _'Hey! How's your day?'_

_'Boring actually, my mom's sleeping in the couch. She's probably keeping an eye on me.'_

_'Really, huh? I actually know her.'_

_'You do?'_

Joohyun looked at the boy and gave him a surprised look with both of her eyebrows raised and her mouth wide open. Seungwan laughed at her adorable reaction and thought, _'She's such a girl full of emotions.'_

It's quite a surprise for Seungwan since he knows Joohyun for having a shy but cute personality. He thought that she's shy to show her true self when he first saw her. But the girl is the opposite of what he's thinking. A girl full emotions and has a very bright and energetic personality. He like that kind of girl.

_'Yeah, my mom and my aunt know your mother, Joohyun. We probably met before when we were little,'_

_'I could still remember her face. According to my aunt, they met when I was still a baby.'_ added Seungwan.

_'Where does your aunt live?'_

_'Just a few blocks away from yours. She's the best aunt I ever had. Just like my mother.'_

_'What was she like?'_ Joohyun took her chair and sat in front of her huge window. _'Exactly like how my mother treated me. She's really good at baking and even gives us the best gifts in special events._

 _'Your mother must've been kind too! I wanted to greet her.'_ Joohyun beamed when Seungwan smiled back, but weakly and sadly.

Joohyun's smile faded in an instant and texted, _'Ugh, did I say something bad? If I did, I'm sorry.'_

_'What? No! I mean, you haven't said anything offensive to me. So you don't need to apologize.'_

_'But you look sad, is there something wrong?'_

_'I'm embarrassed if I tell you that. I felt like an idiot right now.'_

_'No, that's fine. Go on, I promise that I won't tell your secret to anyone. We're friends, remember?'_

The girl grinned encouragingly at the boy, even though she could feel a hint of pain behind it after calling the relationship they are having 'friends'.

At first, Seungwan was reluctant, he didn't want to tell it to her. He usually opens up when he really trusts that person. Yes, he trusts Joohyun, but why is he afraid? Joohyun waited patiently and kept giving him innocent smiles and grins.

_'Beautiful,'_

_'Alright,'_ Seungwan finally typed. _'She just died last year after having a heart attack. Nothing much...'_

_'Oh, I'm sorry.'_

_'No, that's fine. It's still inside my mind. Seunghyeon couldn't hold back her tears when our mother is being mentioned.'_

_'Well, I felt that too.'_

_'Huh? Someone also died in your family?'_

_'Yeah, my dad. He's the best dad. He even tried bringing stuff that came from the outdoors like roses, rocks and sand.'_

The two made eye contact and stared at each other's faces. They both experienced the same thing. They could feel the connection in each other, even they are inside their bedrooms. Could there be a red string?

Their eye contact broke after Seungwan heard steps coming from downstairs. Seunghyeon looked up to his brother and gave him an anxious look.

Looking back at Joohyun, Seungwan texted, _'Um, so, I'll have to go now. My dad's coming.'_

_'Sure, um, see you tomorrow then.'_

Seungwan and Joohyun gave each other one, last smile and went back to their own usual routine.


	5. Aunt Yehyun

The last days of March are just similar after they did the same routines over and over again. They even have a schedule on what time to talk to each other since both parents are strict and observant to their children.

Then as April arrives, each day becomes a little hotter than the previous months after encountering the Spring season.

Mrs. Bae decorated the house to match the season (even though the season starts at mid-March) to make her daughter feel the season indoors. Joohyun still wasn't contented about it but still showed gratitude to her mother after her doing the hard work by cutting and making paper flowers and puts them all over the house.

The paper flowers that her mother made are actually adorable, lightening her mood a little.

Still, her desire to go outside will always be there. Sitting in front of her window, she saw children in the neighborhood walking with their parents with smiles and grins in their faces. How wonderful will it be if you don't have this kind of condition and your father alive.

 _'Those kids are lucky,'_ thought Joohyun as she waved back at a little boy wearing a cute, black beanie and a blue jumper with his name, 'Jeon Euichan', sewn in the middle.

"Hello, Euichan." giggled Joohyun, watching him and his parents walking towards the park a several blocks away.

Since their neighborhood are famous for having a colorful flowers at the sidewalks, Joohyun took a couple of pictures of them in her camera. She created a new hobby of editing pictures and photography after all the boredom she's experiencing.

It's still ten in the morning, the skies now had this pretty shade of blue and white combined. Now it's time for her to eat breakfast.

She went down the staircase and saw her mother preparing breakfast for her. As she approached, she sat on her chair and started eating with her mother. The meal they're having is seaweed soup again, but Joohyun wouldn't complain after loving her mother's cook. They usually chat about something while eating, but they're silent and focused on their meal. Mrs. Bae may just give her smiles but her thoughts are growing endlessly.

"So," Mrs. Bae finally spoke after minutes of being silent. "Dr. Joo is coming here again to check you again— I know, it will be boring but we will have a visitor."

"What?" Joohyun stopped eating and looked at her mother with furrowed eyebrows. "Who is it then?"

"Oh, it's just my close friend, sweetie. You met her when you were still months old." said Mrs. Bae. "She still lives in this neighborhood. But she worked abroad and probably here for vacation until summer." added her mother. "Oh..." nodded Joohyun, taking another sip of seaweed soup. She was expecting Seungwan to be the visitor.

"So after eating, go and prepare yourself." said Mrs. Bae, getting up from her chair.

"Yes, mom." Joohyun nodded, finishing her bowl under a minute.

Dr. Joo arrived at their house at exactly eleven and does the same thing to Joohyun. Joohyun then tried to ask the doctor if she still has the suit that she offered a few months ago while her mother wasn't around.

"Sorry, Joohyun. I didn't bring it today. I'll promise that I'll bring it next week." Dr. Joo gave the girl a warm, genuine smile. It's a miracle for Joohyun to hear her voice for the first time after the doctor just keep saying the same phrases like 'alright, dear', 'next,' 'yes' and 'no'. The bond between them increased a little after them having a short conversation about the season.

"Your mother sure love you, dear. She even decorated the whole house full of paper flowers." chuckled the doctor, examining the flowers that are sticking to the walls of her bedroom. "Yeah, so she won't make the house look plain." replied Joohyun while taking a peek of the doctor's name tag pinned on the right side of her chest.

It's her first time seeing her doctor's real name. _'So she's Joo_ _Ahyeong_ _,'_

She never cared about reading name tags since she was a kid. She depends on what the person wants to be called. Others doesn't want to be called by their real name and some wanted to be called only by their surname.

By her surprise, Dr. Joo left the house without leaving any sticky notes in the house. Now that is the most unexpected thing that Dr. Joo had done.

Not too long after the doctor left, Mrs, Bae could hear the doorbell ring. Joohyun, who is sitting at the couch while watching a movie, got up from her place and was about to check the CCTV screen in the middle of the short hallway to the door when Mrs. Bae grasped her arm, taking it away from the screen.

Her grasp was a little too tight, causing Joohyun too wince a little. "Sorry, sweetie, but you have to go back and watch your movie." Mrs. Bae gave her daughter a warm smile before heading to the front door.

Joohyun look infuriated at her mother's actions and head upstairs with a scowl. Mrs. Bae seemed oblivious about her daughter and opened the door to see a woman standing in front of the doorway, wearing an enormous, black floppy hat with huge pink flowers placed on its right side and embroidered with sparkly white gems. She's bringing a beige Mary Kay handbag and is wearing a pink, flowy dress to match the season.

"Hey, Hyunjoo!" squealed the woman before pulling her friend to give her a tight embrace.

Mrs. Bae hugged back and pat her back playfully. "Hey! How are you? We've never seen each other for several years!"

"Oh, always fine. Jieun is in the house apparently doing her homework. She could've meet Joohyun again, but I don't think your daughter's condition could handle if both of us entered the house." said the woman. "Um, well, we're totally fine if Jieun came with you! I mean, all you need to do is to wash your hands and spray alcohol all over yourselves." explained Mrs. Bae in a friendly way.

"Anyways, come in! Joohyun is inside her room, probably staring at her window." Mrs. Bae released a hearty chuckle while the woman came in happily. She went straight to the bathroom to wash her hands and spray alcohol all over her body even her floppy hat which she treasures the most.

She also have a collection of hats in a whole room in her house abroad and even here in the neighborhood. The hats are in different varieties from colors to the mood of the day.

The two spend the first few minutes of talking and chatting when Joohyun finally went downstairs and went straight to the kitchen to have some ice cream when she heard a squeak from the woman.

"Oh my, Joohyun! You've grown a lot, dear!" exclaimed the woman while walking towards the girl who's trying to get some ice cream from the fridge. "Hello," Joohyun gave her a polite bow even though she didn't feel like it. "Joohyun, she's the friend that I was talking a while ago. She's Aunt Yehyun." said Mrs. Bae.

The woman walked forwards and held both of the girl's hands. "Hello, Joohyun, how are you?" Aunt Yehyun gave her a genuine grin when Joohyun awkwardly smiled back.

"Hello, Aunt Yehyun, I'm doing really fine." replied Joohyun in a stiff manner. Aunt Yehyun didn't seem to bother about her awkwardness and continued to ask questions to Joohyun.

Most of the questions are related to her condition and her lifestyle here in her home and others are just random stuff. Aunt Yehyun also kept talking about her daughter, Jieun, who is a few years younger than Joohyun. She said that she wanted her and Jieun to meet up someday so Joohyun could experience having a social life.

Joohyun already have a social life after meeting her neighbor next door. So as time goes by, the chattering continues between Mrs. Bae and Aunt Yehyun while Joohyun is back in her bedroom, waiting for Seungwan to show himself at his window

_'So how's your day?'_

Joohyun suddenly saw a notification appearing in her screen. She looked again to find where Seungwan is a found him standing outside his house, waving at Joohyun joyfully with Seunghyeon beside him grinning at her.

The girl waved back at the two and texted, _'Hey! What are you two up to?'_

 _'Nothing really, just wanted some fresh air for a while.'_ Seungwan sends his message with a huge grin. His grin made Joohyun distracted from looking at that huge cut in his right cheek.

_'Why are you so happy today?'_

Joohyun looked at the boy again with a giggle. Seunghyeon watched his brother typing in his and pulled his arm to read what he's reading. "Ya, Seunghyeon-ah!" Seungwan gave his sister a warning look when the little girl pouted sadly. "I want to see what you're texting, Oppa!" whined Seunghyeon while pulling his arm even harder when Seungwan's phone fell to the ground.

Joohyun could hear her phone ring and looked at the message that Seungwan had send.

_'I think that you're pretty, Joohyun.'_

Joohyun could feel something hot growing in her cheeks and looked at Seungwan who is arguing with his sister. They stopped as soon as they noticed Joohyun watching them and both turned their heads at the girl.

Seungwan blushed furiously while Seunghyeon gave both of them a mischievous smirk. "Will you stop smirking like that? You're making me more embarrassed!" hissed Seungwan. Seunghyeon doesn't care about what he's saying and yelled, "My brother is in love with you!"

Her yells were so high-pitched, Joohyun could hear the words clearly through her window. "Seungwan is in love! Seungwan is in love— HMPH!"

The boy covered his sister's mouth and gave Joohyun an awkward smile. "Seunghyeon, I said stop!" said Seungwan, looking defeated. "What? It's true! And don't be shy, I also like the chemistry between you and Joohyun Eonni!" smirked Seunghyeon.

Bad timing, really bad timing, Seunghyeon.

"Stop it, please. You've been watching too much dramas in your age. You must read books and even play with your toy dolls." said Seungwan as he rolled his eyes and took his phone from the ground. "Oppa, most of my friends are already watching romantic dramas. So I want to be like them!"

Seungwan never thought that his sister could go this far. How long has she been watching dramas?

Joohyun, in the other hand, looked flustered and stunned at his message. Was this a compliment as a friend or a confession?

As you can see, Joohyun is a great observer. First, she could see the admiration and adoration in Seungwan's eyes when they first met each other. Second, his started to act shy yet adorable when she complimented him. And last, she felt like he's feeling the same way as Joohyun have. But she tried not to expect too much about it after realizing that there's a low chance that he's in love with her.

Oh well.

Typing furiously at his phone while taking quick, shy glances at Joohyun, he sends another message saying, _'Sorry, my sister is being annoying again.'_

Joohyun chuckled at his message and replied, _'That's fine. I also find you attractive, Seungwan.'_

The girl pursed her lips in a self-conscious way while Seungwan's face turned a dark shade of red, if that's quite possible. "Oppa and Eonni sitting on the tree—"

"Sshh!" Seungwan covered her sister's mouth once again. Seunghyeon giggled and punched his shoulder playfully. Joohyun and Seungwan made eye contact and giggled at each other. _'Can_ _we talk after a little while? We actually have a guest inside the house.'_ texted Joohyun. _'Sure, go ahead.' replied the boy._

Giving her last glimpse at Seungwan, she went out of her bedroom and went downstairs. "I wish I could be pretty like Joohyun Eonni. So I could have a boyfriend!" Seunghyeon giggled.

Her brother looked at her in shock, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "Seunghyeon, no boyfriend. You're too young to have one." Seungwan started to look stern and grave at his sister. Seungwan doesn't want Seunghyeon to have a crush either.

"How come you have one?" whined Seunghyeon. "J-Joohyun wasn't my girlfriend, Seunghyeon! Aish!" The boy wanted to punch his sister badly but stopped himself after not wanting to see her hurt. "Fine, I'm heading to my bedroom—"

"It's our bedroom, Seunghyeon. You're bedroom was already dad's—"

"Fine, _our_ bedroom." The little girl turned her back against her brother sassily and left him standing at the sidewalk like an idiot. "I'm sorry," peeped Seungwan before sighing heavily.

"Joohyun! Come down now. We'll be eating lunch with Aunt Yehyun!" called Mrs. Bae, putting a bowl full of Tteokbokki and one, large plate of Bulgogi. "Hyunjoo-yah, your dishes looks delicious!" chirped Aunt Yehyun, eyeing the dishes happily. Aunt Yehyun has this British accent where she made this cringe-y high-pitched 'ah', 'oh and 'eo' when saying words in Korean with those letters.

Mrs. Bae didn't mind at all but it bothers Joohyun in many, many ways. But she tries to ignore it after Aunt Yehyun being one of the kindest people. Taking slow steps from her bedroom down to the dining table, she sat at the middle of the rectangular table while Aunt Yehyun sat in the left end of it and her mother sitting on the right.

"I can't wait to taste these dishes. I've already missed them after I left this neighborhood for several years." Aunt Yehyun grinned as she took her metal chopsticks from her plate and took a piece of beef.

"Well, don't you ever eat these kinds of food in London?" queried Mrs. Bae while munching on her food. "Not that much. And also, Jieun prefers Chicken Tikka Masala and Roasted Beef more than Tteokbokki and Bulgogi." shrugged Aunt Yehyun.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she mostly lives in London more than here. She also speaks a little Korean." said Aunt Yehyun.

"You must've bring her here then! Joohyun could teach her Korean!" Mrs. Bae turned her head promptly at her daughter, giving her a beam.

Joohyun could feel her stomach twist. Teach Jieun Korean when she speaks mostly English? No way. She wasn't confident enough to teach Jieun because of her poor English skills. And her mother knew this very well. "Mom—"

"That's wonderful! I'll surely bring her here after the next few weeks." Aunt Yehyun joyfully pats the girl's back with Mrs. Bae taking quick glimpse of her daughter with a small grin, telling her to just accept it.

She rolled her eyes a little and sighed heavily. "Also, I brought something for Joohyun." beamed Aunt Yehyun. Her hands reached beneath her chair, took her handbag and took a cassette tape from inside. Joohyun eyed the object inquisitively and watched Aunt Yehyun giving it to her with an innocent grin. "Here, this is actually from Joy." said the woman.

Joohyun's eyes widened. "What?"

"It's from your friend, Joy, Joohyun. She and her mother are actually living near us in London." added Aunt Yehyun. Joy was living near them? What happened to her friend?

She's touched after holding her friend's promise. She thought that she'll never have the video. "Um, how's Joy, Aunt Yehyun?" Joohyun questioned the woman, feeling a rush of excitement inside her. "She's very well. Oh, I almost forgot that she also gave me a letter for you." gasped Aunt Yehyun before searching it in her handbag.

She smiled and turned her head to her mother. Mrs. Bae smiled warmly at her daughter and nodded.

"Found it," She sighed in relief, giving the square paper to the girl. The pink paper looked a bit crumpled after apparently staying in Aunt Yehyun's bag for months. She examined Joy's hand writing and realized that her writing is even smaller and elegant than her last letter to her. It's full of curls and stuff that has in cursive.

There, the message said:

_'Hey, Joohyun! How are you? We've never seen and talked to each other for years already! I'm really sorry for not texting you after I left. My mother actually 'confiscated' my phone for me to focus on my studies. That's the main reason why I couldn't talk to you through messaging. But I promise that we'll communicate after I finally finished college._

_And also, we're here in London now! Aunt_ _Yehyun_ _was the one who persuaded me to study here in London. She's extremely kind to us, especially_ _Jieun_ _! She's the best and we even spend time together whenever we're free. Oh, wait, how's your condition? I was still hoping for you to feel better so we could hang out if we came back to_ _JeongWon_ _. Anyways, here is my promise when we're still probably twelve. I had this video a year after we left and tried to send this to you through phones._

_Sadly, my mom took my phone and hid it somewhere where I couldn't find it. Now that's enough about my life, enjoy the video! I hope that you're feeling better. Always remember to fight,_ _Hyunnie_ _!_

_\- Joy'_

  
"I didn't know that they know you, Aunt Yehyun."

"Oh, most of the JeongWon Neighborhood knows me! My family has been here when there wasn't that much people living here." Aunt Yehyun happily told her. "We've known each other when we were still in primary school too, sweetie." Mrs. Bae added.

"Joy couldn't even stop nagging about giving that letter and cassette tape to you as soon as we arrived in this neighborhood. That girl..." chuckled Aunt Yehyun.

All three of them giggled with her. Aunt Yehyun and Mrs. Bae went back on talking about random stuff when Joohyun quietly leave them alone and climbed up the stairs to her bedroom.

She sat on her desk once again and did her homework that her mom gave her yesterday. Joohyun reads the questions written in a paper and sighed.

 _'When was the_ _Gijan_ _Joseon_ _state found?'_

_'Tell me the Three Kingdoms of Korea and explained each of them in detail.'_

_'Who found the_ _Goryeo_ _Dynasty and when did it last?'_

"Boring," sighed Joohyun before sliding the paper away from her. Turning her head to Seungwan's window, she found him teaching math to his little sister. The sight made her smile after seeing them being inseparable.

She once asked the siblings what would happen without having each other and both answered that they couldn't survive if either of them doesn't exist. They love each other so much, which made them the cutest siblings that Joohyun ever knew. Seungwan finished teaching and let Seunghyeon answer the math questions in her book. He looked up and saw Joohyun giving him the prettiest smile.

_'Hey,'_

Joohyun messaged him first.

_'Hey, just helping my sister in math. She's having a little difficulty in division.'_

_'Really? Well, I also had some difficulty in there. Could you teach me?'_

Joohyun really had the nerve to send this message to Seungwan and regretted what she had done seconds after doing so. Both of them blushed while giving brief glances at each other. Seunghyeon noticed what they're doing and smirked.

Without even looking, Seungwan elbowed his sister saying, "Seunghyeon, go back to answering."

Joohyun looked at the little girl and winked. "Alright," shrugged Seunghyeon, going back to answering her math questions. _'Anyways, we have a visitor in our place.'_

_'Isn't it the aunt that I told you?'_

_'So it really is Aunt_ _Yehyun_ _?'_

_'Yup, she visited us yesterday too. Seunghyeon couldn't even let her go once she hugged her.'_

_'You're right, she is kind.'_ giggled Joohyun.

Then a sudden idea popped in her head. Since Aunt Yehyun and Seungwan knew each other, what if she brings Seungwan into her place?

Besides, her mother will start to work in her office again next week. First, she'll have to take her number and then text her to let Seungwan and his sister to the house.

 _'Genius!'_ Joohyun mentally cheered.

_'Um, Seungwan, I think I have a plan for you to visit my house.'_


	6. The Leaving of the Princess

_'That's great! You should probably tell this to Aunt Yehyun.'_

_'Sure, be right back!'_

Joohyun gave him a wink before quickly leaving her bedroom, leaving Seungwan stunned. _'Did she just winked at me?'_

"Look at you, you're thinking about your girlfriend again."

"Seunghyeon, just shut up!"

The little girl giggled and elbowed his brother teasingly. "If you won't stop teasing me then I'll quit teaching you." sighed the boy. "Fine, I can just look for answers in the internet—"

"Fine! Fine, I'll teach you." He rolled his eyes angrily while Seunghyeon continued to laugh and giggle at his brother's actions.

Joohyun went out of her bedroom and saw that Aunt Yehyun was sitting alone in the couch. She then checked if her mother was still around the ground floor and after realizing that she wasn't, she ran down the stairs and approached the woman who is busy watching TV.

"Hmm? Oh, Joohyun! How's your homework—?"

"Sorry, Aunt Yehyun but could I take your number?"

The woman gave her a surprised look when seconds later a smile appeared in her pink lips. "Oh, sure, dear! Why would you want to take my number?" asked Aunt Yehyun. "Well, so I could talk to you more often." stated Joohyun, even though it sounded like a question. "Of course, of course, alright," Aunt Yehyun took her phone from her handbag.

The girl widened her eyes as soon as she saw the woman's phone. It's one of the latest ones that has three cameras or whatsoever. She's probably _that_ rich, thought Joohyun.

"Found it!" the woman showed Joohyun her number when the girl took her phone and copied her number.

"Anyways, where's mom?" Joohyun politely asked her. "Well, she's using the bathroom. She's be here in a minute so—"

"Thank you, Aunt Yehyun!" whispered Joohyun before giving her a bow and hastily climbing up the stairs. She gave the girl a sincere smile as a response and watched her running back towards her bedroom joyfully. "This girl is still a kid even at eighteen years." chuckled the woman before going back to watching TV.

Now Joohyun's mood lightened even more. She couldn't wait for Seungwan to visit her house.

After solving all of the equations given in her book under several minutes, Seunghyeon let out a soft sigh and looked at her brother. "Oppa? I'm done answering." yawned Seunghyeon, stretching her arms and legs. Seungwan didn't respond to her call and continued to gaze wistfully at Joohyun's large window. His sister took a quick glimpse of her brother and elbowed him harshly in his thigh, causing him to jump from his seat and yell in pain.

"Aish! What was that for—?"

"You've been staring at Joohyun Eonni's window! You don't care about me now!" Seunghyeon pouted and crossed her arms grumpily. She turned her back against him and scowled.

Guilt now took over him. She's right, his mind was full of Joohyun, not even trying to have a little thought about his sister. He turned to her and held her right shoulder, trying to catch her attention but she wouldn't budge and remained like that whenever Seungwan tried to turn her around.

"Seunghyeon..." said Seungwan, looking directly at the back of her head apologetically. His sister was being moody recently after seeing her father doing violent things towards her brother. She deserves better and the boy wants her to live her life to the fullest. He never dares raise his voice in front of her for she'll cry.

Seungwan knew this already and acts calm when it comes to talking to his sister.

"I'm sorry, alright." said Seungwan, taking deep breaths one at a time. Seunghyeon remained still but is listening to her brother carefully.

"I know that I'm sometimes being a bad brother to you. I also know that you're having a hard time living here with Appa." Seungwan lowered his voice after hearing his father's footsteps just outside the bedroom. "Come on, look at me." Seungwan pats his sister's back gently, hoping that she would look at him.

She sighed and slowly turned around, looking straight at his brother's dark brown eyes with a slight frown.

Seungwan did the same by looking into her honey brown eyes. Her eyes looked exactly like his mother's, and tried not to cry in front of his sister. "Well..." Seungwan pats her head gently. Seunghyeon stared at him with pursed lips and her arms still crossed. "Again, I'm sorry. I know that I've been thinking about Joohyun Eonni the whole time and not even thinking the slightest though about you."

He sighed again and roamed his eyes around the bedroom, trying to ignore the remorse building inside him. Seungwan was about to speak when the little girl wept, "I'm sorry too, Oppa."

He looked at her in surprise, he wasn't expecting that response at all. "Why are you sorry? I mean, you did nothing wrong, Princess." said Seungwan, now looking alarmed. "It's just...you're doing all the things just for me, you know? I felt like that I'm making your life even harder because of me." said the little girl, her voice a little weak.

"What? Who said that to you?" Seungwan gently held both of her shoulders.

"N-No one, it's just how I feel right now. I'm sorry, Oppa." She started crying and hugged him tightly, nuzzling her face against his chest.

The boy shook his head and looked down at the little girl. "Seunghyeon, look at me." He said once again while bringing her head up. Seunghyeon obeyed him while tears started to fill her eyes.

"Listen, you're not making my life hard. You're actually the one who made my life easier." He smiled warmly at the little girl.

“You act as my little assistant at times, right? You even wanted to help me even though you're not supposed too.

"Remember when I got punched by Appa? You healed my cut. I like you being here, okay? You're the one who brightens my gloomy days." Seungwan hugged his sister tightly.

“Eomma also gave you the nickname 'princess' too. Do you know why?”

The little girl shook her head while wiping her tears with her shirt. “She gave you that nickname because you're pretty, adorable, lovely, humble, energetic, you have all of them, Seunghyeon. You have the characteristics of a good princess. So please don't be sorry.”

"Okay..." sniffed Seunghyeon, hugging him back. The latter gazed at the little girl empathically.

"Alright now, let's go back to division. Have you answered all of them?" He asked when she nodded slowly.

"Nice," chuckled Seungwan while ruffling her hair playfully. Seunghyeon pouted and fixed her hair saying, "I'm not a boy, Oppa."

The boy giggled at her cuteness and nodded. "Okay, sorry about that." He pinched her soft cheek with a grin.

_'Seungwan!!!'_

The boy heard his phone vibrate in his desk and reads Joohyun's message. He peered at the window and saw Joohyun waving her phone joyfully. With a grin, he messaged, _'Have you took her number already?'_

_'Yeah, she's the nicest. She wasn't even suspicious about what I was doing.'_

_'That's good. So when will we meet?'_

_'Probably the week after next week? I don't know, I didn't ask Aunt Yehyun when she'll come back again.'_ Joohyun admitted, now looking a little embarrassed.

"Oppa, can I use the bathroom?" Seunghyeon nudged her brother's shoulder, waiting for his response. "Sure, go ahead." Seungwan replied with a smile. The little girl got up from her chair and went out of the bedroom silently. Looking back at Joohyun's window, he saw her tying her hair up, her back facing him. He stared at the ethereal sight and watched her gracefully walking back to the window.

Seungwan quickly took his phone and pretended that he was playing a game. Joohyun saw him and signed him that she'll call him now. The boy nodded and waited for her to call.

They've been calling just twice after months of seeing each other through the window. They're both scared of their parents discovering that they're busy talking to one another, especially that they're whipped to one another without even knowing yet. As soon as his phone rang, he answered the phone and slowly puts his phone in his ear.

Both missed talking to each other through calls after finding each other's voice soothing. They did this when they couldn't sleep in the middle of the night after scared of their parents finding that they're talking to each other.

Mr. Son also hates his son being in love after wanting him to focus only on earning money. He wants money and won't even share this to his own children.

"Hello?"

Joohyun made eye contact with the boy and gave him a smile. The boy got flustered and blushed furiously at her sudden smile. "H-Hey," responded Seungwan.

"Since Seunghyeon wasn't around and my mom's busy with Aunt Yehyun, can we talk even just for a while? I'm actually bored inside the house again." Joohyun giggled when Seungwan nodded. "Of course, what would you want to talk about?"

"I don't know..." paused Joohyun, trying to think about a topic to avoid awkwardness.

"Hmm, could you tell what's life outside the house instead? I couldn't think of a better topic actually. You could just skip this if you didn't find this interesting—"

"No, I would love to tell about that." beamed Seungwan. "I mean, since you've been living their your whole life, I'll try to tell you everything about that." added the boy, his excitement increasing. The girl nodded and sat in front of her window in exhilaration. "Alright, tell me now."

They spend the hours taking turns on talking about that particular topic and listened to each other in utter interest. Both of them enjoyed and liked times like this where they could talk to each other without any disturbances.

Joohyun even told him about how she lives here in the same house for years with only her mother and added how her father had died when she was still a little girl. Because of this, Seungwan did the same and tells her all about his secrets, which made them even closer as friends.

Then they started talking about how they go to school and how they interact with people. Seungwan was shocked by her story after her having just two people from the outside to talk to in the past years and that's Joy and her mother, Park Sooyoung. After telling him that, Joohyun confessed that she's having trouble by staying calm whenever there's a new visitor around their house.

After she told him that, Joohyun confessed that she's always nervous when there was a new guest entering their house.

Despite her cheerful and energetic character, Joohyun has a hard time dealing with new people. She's stiff when around those kind of people and barely talked to them after her living with the same people for years.

Aunt Yehyun was one of those people but because of her playful and amusing aura, Joohyun felt elated whenever she's with her. Back to their chat, they decided to change the topic since they're both embarrassed after telling each other their own secrets. Seungwan wanted to talk about how she's diagnosed with such a rare immune disorder but he doesn't have the courage to do so.

He doesn't want to upset Joohyun since she's been asked a million times about her condition. "You know," Joohyun crossed her legs, her eyes focused on Seungwan. "I want to talk about love."

Seungwan froze in his spot and gulped nervously. "Like, do you have any girlfriends before?" Joohyun started to look a little more serious when she asked that question.

The girl smirked cheekily when Seungwan gave her an awkward smile. "Come on, Seungwan. Don't be shy." Joohyun gave him another mischievous smirk. "W-Well," paused the boy, trying to find his voice.

Joohyun gazed at him seriously, wanting to know if he had any lovers before her. Yes, she knows that the question was sudden, but she didn't care anymore. She liked Seungwan so much.

"Yeah, I do have a girlfriend when I was still in high school," Seungwan paused again and tried to act natural and casual. "Sh-She's pretty and...nice and all. But," He quickly added.

"I-I met someone much prettier and nicer than her." He shyly scratched his nape and blushed furiously. _'Someone much prettier, huh?'_ Joohyun mentally rolled her eyes at the thought. "Why do you like that particular person than your previous girlfriend then?" Her questions are making Seungwan even more edgy.

"Um, she's prettier because—"

"Wait, skip that." The girl cuts off Seungwan, leaving him stunned. "Tell me what she's like instead." She gave Seungwan an innocent grin, trying to hide her jealousy. "Alright, she's adorable and beautiful, very beautiful. A-And," Seungwan's face started to look red as he described the girl he likes.

"I like her personality too. Cheerful and humble. Has smooth, black hair which I...love. She also has the most magnificent pair of eyes, doe-like and innocent. She's the perfect girl."

The boy pursed his lips and took a glimpse of Joohyun. The girl looked annoyed by his response but managed to smile brightly at him. "Alright, really perfect for you." The girl felt both mad and upset. Seungwan is already in love with someone else, not...her. She took a glance of Seungwan and smiled weakly, feeling hurt inside.

Seungwan watched her silently and grinned a little. With a sigh, he dragged his chair nearer to his desk and rests both of his elbows on top of it.

"And that's...you, Joohyun." Seungwan shyly added, his eyes fixed on the girl. Joohyun's pupils dilated in surprise, looked up at the boy pursing his lips several times and bashfully touching the rear of his ear with his index finger.

"I'm...I'm in love with you. Deeply in love, Joohyun." Seungwan smiled charmingly at the girl and sighed in relief after seeing that pretty smile. The girl felt the same too, but she's flustered than ever. She felt stupid for ignoring those hints, she's such an idiot. "W-Well...m-me too." peeped Joohyun, grinning at the boy shyly.

The two gazed at each other lovingly and slowly puts their phones down. They want to do one thing, the thing that most couples do. Her eyes landed on Seungwan's soft lips. If only they were seeing each other face to face, she'd just kiss him and hug him tightly around the neck. Seungwan was thinking the same too, his eyes not leaving Joohyun's red, plump lips.

They wanted to do it so badly and tried to stop moving their heads closer to their own windows. Seungwan shook his head and hastily puts back his phone near his ear and said in a small voice, "Um, so..."

The girl looked away and blushed. "Well, um, it's nice that we like each other." said Joohyun right after she puts her phone near her ear. "Y-Yeah," The boy nodded slowly.

"Also, y-you have nice lips." blurted Seungwan with a small grin. Joohyun smiled and shyly covered her mouth with her hand.

 _'You're an idiot! Are you out of your mind?!'_ screamed Seungwan's inner self.

"Oppa?"

Seungwan jumped in his seat, faced his sister and gave her a grin. "Yeah?"

He puts his phone at the desk without ending the call. Seunghyeon got startled by his antics and gazed at him, perplexed.

"Are you okay? You look petrified when I—"

"Nothing! Nothing, really. Anyways, I've checked all your answers and all of them are correct!" beamed Seungwan. Though, he didn't even took a single look at Seunghyeon's book. "Yey! So can I play now?" The little girl asked, looking at her brother in anticipation. "Sure! Go ahead and enjoy." said Seungwan before looking back at Joohyun, who is busy fixing her hair with a small mirror on her left hand.

Joohyun immediately hid her mirror behind her back and grinned at the boy awkwardly. "Um," She took her phone from her desk and sighed. "See you next week then." said the girl.

"Is it next week?"

"I hope,"

That moment was unforgettable to Seungwan. It caused him to have insomnia and smile every time he tries to study for his exams. Not to mention that he couldn't stop staring at Joohyun's window, waiting for her to talk to him.

It was midnight and it's 1 AM, Seungwan still couldn't sleep. He sighed softly and sat up on his bed, slowly crawled out of bed and sat on his desk to hopefully to take a single glance of Joohyun.

There, he saw the girl's back facing him. She's probably asleep, thought Seungwan.

Even Seungwan found her back pretty, so he really dreamt of having her as her lover. She became her inspiration and tried to study harder to be a doctor someday. He also started research about Joohyun's condition and tried to find a way to heal her condition. The transplant has a lot of risks and side effects, so Seungwan decided to abandon that.

He's been doing that for weeks, yet he couldn't find a way to help Joohyun. But he did promise himself to make Joohyun happy.

"Oppa?"

Seungwan heard his little sister calling him in a sleepy voice and turned his head to see her trying to find him with his eyes closed.

"Oppa..." Seunghyeon whimpered a little, about to cry when Seungwan quickly pats her back. "Sshh, it's alright, I'm here." whispered Seungwan, hugging the little girl tightly. "Oppa, I want Eomma. I miss Eomma." The little girl softly cried.

"I know, please don't cry." The boy caressed the back of her head gently as he listened to Seunghyeon's cries.

"Oppa, can I go to Eomma? Can I go above the clouds to see her?"

"Huh?" Seungwan looked at his sister with eyes looking worried. "I want to go to her. I want to hug her, Oppa." The girl whimpered again and wiped her tears with her fists. "Princess, I-I don't want you to leave yet." said Seungwan. "Then come with me, we'll see Eomma together." Her cries are getting a little louder when the boy hugged her again.

"A-Alright, go back to sleep now."

Seungwan lied beside her and watch her slowly falling asleep. He had a bad feeling about Seunghyeon, she'll probably see her mother in a few days.

The next day, the siblings woke up early at five in the morning and prepared themselves to go to school. "Have you packed all your supplies for your project?" asked the boy while putting his folders and books into his black Vans backpack.

"Yeah, can we also go by the candy store after school? I haven't ate candy for months." pouted Seunghyeon when Seungwan chuckled and pats her head. "Sure thing. Make sure to study hard, alright? So we can get ride of Appa." He lowered his voice when the little girl giggled and nodded.

"Anyways, how's your girlfriend? Are you talking to her yesterday?"

"Seunghyeon—"

"—Because I heard you say that you like her."

Seungwan paused and turned his head to Joohyun's window. He almost forgot about her after thinking about what might happen to Seunghyeon in the next few days. "Come on, Oppa. Your class is going to start at six, right?"

"Yeah," responded Seungwan. He removed his backpack from his back and finds his phone inside. Then he texted a message to Joohyun, saying: _"Hey, me and Seunghyeon are going to school. So you have no one to talk to for several hours. I'm sorry, and...I love you."_

"Come on now, I'll be late in class." smiled Seungwan before taking his sister's hand and went downstairs to the front door of the house.

"Why are you smiling, Oppa?" Seunghyeon smirked when the boy chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully. "None of your business, Princess." He responded as he waved at an approaching taxi. The two rode the vehicle while joking around and off they go to their schools.

In the other house, Joohyun woke up an hour after the siblings left. She glanced at her window to check if Seungwan was there and checked her phone to see any messages from him. The girl saw a notification and clicked right after seeing it. With excitement, she reads the message and widened her eyes at the last phrase _; I love you._

So this is real, thought Joohyun. She lied down at her bed again with a blissful smile and covered her face with her blanket. "AAHH!!!"

Joohyun's muffled squeals and giggles filled the whole room. Then she took her phone and messaged back: _'I love you too, Seungwan.'_

She was about to bury her face again using her blanket and squeal when she heard her mother's loud knocks on her door saying, "Joohyun? Are you awake, sweetie? I made breakfast, come on."

"Coming!" responded Joohyun in a bright voice yet she's looking irritated and annoyed.

With a slight scowl on her face, Joohyun went down the stairs and walked to the dining table. "Here you go, I made egg sandwich and bacon. My first time making it since I didn't cook American-styled food that often." Mrs. Bae warmly gave her daughter a plate of egg sandwich and four strips of bacon. "Thanks, mom." thanked the girl, taking the plate from her mother.

"Have you eaten already?"

"Yes, sweetie. I ate some of my egg sandwich a while ago. I swear, it's scrumptious!" Mrs. Bae grinned proudly and sweetly at Joohyun. Now Joohyun doesn't know if her mother made this for her or just to brag about how delicious her meal is. She took a bite of the egg sandwich and chewed it slowly.

Well, it is delicious, after all.

"Do you like it?" questioned her mother. "Yeah, it's delicious." grinned Joohyun as she continued to eat the sandwich delightfully.

Seungwan was sitting on a bench just outside the campus, eating his lunch with a huge smile on his face.

Some college students passed by him and greeted him a hello, then later asked each other why he's extremely happy despite having exams today. Not a little later, his group of friends finally found him and ran to him.

"Ya, we've been finding you all over the campus!" panted a tall boy with fluffy, curly, hazel brown hair. "Sanha, don't you ever speak like that to your Hyung—"

"But we've been spending hours finding him!" bleated that boy named Sanha, who is now sitting beside Seungwan. Sanha is a head taller than Seungwan, is a sophomore in Yeolrim University and the youngest in their group. "Come on, fluffy head, Seungwan didn't even do something wrong—"

"Don't you dare call me 'fluffy head'." said Sanha, giving the baby-faced boy a deadly glare.

That's Hyeongjun, a baby-faced student who's always mistaken as a freshman in the campus even though he's a senior. "Guys," sighed Seungwan, looking exhausted watching Sanha and Hyeongjun fight. "Look, I'm sorry if I suddenly left you without letting you know. I just want to spend my time alone—"

"Ohoho, are you in love again?" A boy who's always bringing his lunchbox smirked at Seungwan. The boy's face slowly became red and pushed the boy in the stomach. "N-No, I'm not!"

"We know when you're in love, Seungwan. And it's this, you left the group without letting us know and prefer spending time alone." added the boy. "Bomin's right, Seungwan. We know you since we've been friends for a long time. " commented another boy, who's half a head shorter than Seungwan.

"Fine," sighed Seungwan. "Yes, you're right, I'm in love again, Jihoon."

"Seungwan Hyung is lucky." giggled Sanha while elbowing the boy annoyingly. "How was it?" asked Bomin when Jihoon sat beside Sanha. "What do you mean?" The latter questioned Bomin with a quirked brow.

"What I mean is the kiss." smirked Bomin. "Ooh, Seungwan already has his first kiss?!" Hyeongjun gasped when he suddenly punched Seungwan at the chest. "Ouch, wha—"

"Hyung, have you used you tongue too when kissing—?"

"Yoon Sanha! Where the hell did you get that?!" Jihoon gave the youngest a menacing look, causing Sanha to shut his mouth.

"You guys— I HADN'T KISSED HER YET!" Seungwan raised his voice so his friends could hear him clearly. His voice was actually a little loud, which reached approximately five feet away from them. Some students heard him and turned their heads at the group. Meanwhile, all of the boys gave Seungwan an evil smirk, causing him to blush hard.

"I-It's your fault." grumbled the latter and crossed his arms with a scowl.

Then the school bell rang loudly, alarming students that their break time is now over. People walked back inside the campus while the boys stayed where they are. "See you guys later! My art class will be starting now!" Sanha got up from the bench and grinned at all of them. "Sure, study hard, fluffy head." said Hyeongjun, watching the youngest running towards the entrance.

The others did the same and went to their classes.

The boy ran out of the campus as soon as the bell rang and took a taxi to Seunghyeon's school. He looked out of the window anxiously, his hands starting to sweat and tremble nervously.

Seunghyeon's adviser just called him before his last period and told him that something bad happened to his little sister. He knew that something will happen to her. So he silently prayed that his sister will be fine during the ride.

He arrived at Jeonsang Primary School just in time to see school staff and little kids surrounding something in the middle of the road. The boy's heart started racing as soon as he went out of the car after hearing wails and cries from the children. Then Seunghyeon's school adviser turned around to see Seungwan approaching the crowd.

"Excuse me," said the adviser while approaching the boy. "Are you Mr. Son Seungwan? The brother of Seunghyeon?"

"Yes, ma'am. What happened to her?" questioned Seungwan with a slightly demanding tone.

"Seunghyeon just passed out after a car ran into her—"

"WHAT?"

Seungwan made his way in the crowd when the people surprisingly stepped aside like they knew that he was going to come. Then there he saw his sister, lying flat in the ground, unconscious, and blood trickling down from her temple.

"SEUNGHYEON!" cried the boy as he knelt down beside the little girl. "Seunghyeon? Princess, wake up!" lamented the latter, shaking Seunghyeon's small body to wake her up. But she didn't respond.

The sirens of the ambulance approaching wailed loudly and stopped right beside the siblings.

"Help! My sister is dying!" cried Seungwan while carrying her body. The medical team helped him carry Seunghyeon to the ambulance.

"Princess, please wake up."


	7. Breathing The Same Air

The ambulance arrived in the hospital after several minutes of driving. Seungwan felt furious after seeing heavy traffic in the streets so it apparently took them a thirty minutes for them to arrive at the hospital.

The medical team quickly opened the back doors of the ambulance and helped each other to bring the medical bed out from the ambulance.

"It's alright, Seunghyeon. Y-You'll be fine." muttered Seungwan as he followed the team dragging the medical bed towards the emergency room. As soon as they arrived in the ER, Seungwan stayed just outside and watched his little sister disappearing behind the doors of the room.

If Seunghyeon disappears, he has to deal with his father alone. He's scared, he's worried for his sister. He doesn't want her to leave yet.

"Mom, I'm also done with my homework. I'll be giving it to you after a little while." said Joohyun after finishing her meal. "Sure, sweetie." Mrs. Bae grinned sweetly at the girl before bringing the empty plates to the kitchen sink.

The girl then walked upstairs and entered her bedroom. She's starting to get bored again, she wanted to talk to Seungwan again. She wants to hug him, at least. Even though they weren't near each other, Joohyun could still feel that warmth radiating from him. "He's the perfect guy." Joohyun sighed serenely while watching a few people walking in the sidewalks and a few cars passing by in their neighborhood.

Everything seems calm in their neighborhood. People quickly got along with each other and rarely sees them fight.

That's one of the reason why she wanted to go out. But, she wondering what could Seungwan be doing in school? She looked at the boy's bedroom window and stared at it for a while.

She imagined her life without having SCID. It would be fun, she thought. But she remembered Joy's story where she told her all about being treated like trash even though she didn't do anything bad to them.

Joohyun doesn't like injustice and will always find a way to avoid that no matter what. But in reality, it wouldn't be easy. Although, that doesn't stop Joohyun from wanting to go outdoors. We don't blame her after she couldn't do most stuff that an average person could do.

Then she imagined being on the beach again...but with Seungwan.

Ooh, dangerous thought, Joohyun.

The girl could picture Seungwan just wearing shorts without a shirt, seeing those hard abs—

"No," muttered Joohyun, blushing so hard. Biting her lip shyly, she giggled and hides her face using her hands to remove that sinful thought in her head.

She's been seeing too much photos of men without a top. It just reminds it of Seungwan.

Then her train of thoughts got ruined after hearing her mother calling her. "Bae Joohyun? Where's your homework? I'm already done washing the plates." called Mrs. Bae from the kitchen.

"Oh, right," muttered Joohyun as she took her homework and ran out of her bedroom.

Meanwhile, back in the hospital, Seungwan was still waiting in the waiting bench, looking worried and anxious after her sister is there for nearly an hour. He couldn't stop worrying, his hands wouldn't stop trembling, he is looking weary and exhausted as ever.

Later, the doctor came out of the emergency room. The boy abruptly stood up from his seat and approached the doctor. He desperately wants to see her expression her face was almost hidden with the mask and her eyes look blank and expressionless. "Um, excuse me, how's my sister?" Seungwan reluctantly questioned her, his hands behind his back.

The doctor eyed him blankly and released a soft sigh. His response just sends shivers through the the boy's spine.

"Mr. Son," paused the doctor as he looked back at the ER. Seungwan wanted the answer immediately but at the same time, he doesn't want to. He's out of his mind now, he couldn't stop fiddling with his fingers. "We've been trying everything to keep her alive. But she couldn't respond and she's...she's dead, Mr. Son."

The doctor looked at him, his eyes full of remorse. Seungwan felt his heart stop, he wouldn't believe what he's saying. "That...th-that isn't t-true, right?" asked Seungwan weakly. "Sh-She can't be dead...she's my sister..."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Son. But we couldn't do anything to revive her. Again, I'm sorry." The doctor gave him a small bow his only his head and left.

The boy felt the world around him to darken, his heart now full of hopelessness. Then he realized that it's already four o' clock. His father will be made at him if he doesn't come back home in that time. But he wants to visit his sister's body and say 'goodbye'. So either getting beaten to death again or just obey the curfew.

With a sigh, he took last one glimpse at the ER and left wearily. The boy also chose to walk his way back in the house. He wasn't in the mood to ride a taxi or a bus. He wants to walk away the pain.

He arrived after thirty minutes of walking. His feet felt like jelly now as he approached the door. Joohyun was there, sitting in her desk, waiting for Seungwan to come only to get ignored the whole day. Of course, the girl was perplexed after his sudden change of behavior but decides to leave him alone.

Seungwan was really having a bad day. He lost his sister and he got beaten by his father after arriving just a few minutes late before his curfew. Now he doesn't have a companion anymore.

_'Farewell, Princess Seunghyeon. I hope you'll meet Eomma up there.'_

***

The very next day, Joohyun woke up in a very good mood. Right after she opened her eyes, she took her phone from the bedside table and checked if Seungwan left her any messages.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any messages sent by the boy. But she did send him a message saying, _'Morning! Are you going to school again today?'_

Next, she got up from her bed and stood right in front of her window to check if Seungwan was still sleeping. But she noticed that his bed was empty and blankets and pillows are sprawled all over the bed. She even noticed Seunghyeon's math book just laying there in the boy's desk. It looked like it got soaked by water, thought Joohyun.

Some of the book's pages looked damaged too.

 _'What's going on? Are the two alright?'_ thought Joohyun inside her head. Her head turned to the clock above her bed and realized that it's already 7:40 AM. She must go down stairs before her mother will scold her again. Joohyun's been messing up her sleeping schedule lately which probably lead her into trouble.

While busy cooking oatmeal for her daughter, Mrs. Bae could hear her footsteps coming from the stairs. "Morning, mom! What's for breakfast?" questioned the girl brightly as she gracefully walked towards the dining table.

"Hey, sweetie. You're breakfast will be oatmeal with bananas and strawberries." answered Mrs. Bae, giving her daughter a motherly smile. "Can I have some milk also?" requested Joohyun when her mother nodded and brought a bowl full of oatmeal to the dining table. "Here you go, Joohyun. I'll be preparing your milk for a while." said her mother before heading to the fridge.

The girl looked down at her bowl and saw that the bananas and strawberries are put in a shape of a heart right in the middle of her oatmeal. Adorable.

"Here's your milk, sweetie. Make sure to finish that. Your doctor wants to you to eat something healthy to make you stronger." advised Mrs. Bae. "Thanks, mom." Joohyun grinned as she ate her meal.

Her mother watched her with an endearing gaze with her arms crossed.

"Also, what's with that huge smile? Did something happened when you woke up?" asked Mrs. Bae with a chuckle. Mrs. Bae's right, why is she such in a good mood?

Probably because she's excited of Seungwan coming into her house. "I just woke up with it." shrugged the girl.

"And also, Joohyun. Since I'll go to my office next week, Aunt Yehyun decided to stay with you in the house to avoid you being bored." Mrs. Bae grinned. Joohyun beamed back at her mother. That part was actually plan, which made Joohyun a little giddy with excitement.

"Alright, I'll be in the garden for a while. I can't leave my plants under the sunlight for too long." said her mother. Joohyun nodded like a cute little girl and watched Mrs. Bae getting up from her seat. "Oh, and don't forget to put your plate in the sink." Her mother reminded. "I already know that, mom." commented Joohyun.

"Okay then, see you later." Mrs. Bae walked towards the front door and left.

After eating, Joohyun sprinted back upstairs to her bedroom. She decided to check on Seungwan if he was there, so she stood right in from her window and saw that his bedroom was still empty.

Were the two in school today?

It's Saturday, so they'll stay in the house. Wait, they're apparently in the park by now, thought Joohyun.

But Seungwan was supposed to leave a message to her before going to somewhere else. Before feeling upset by his absence, she heard yelling below. Joohyun craned her neck to look down just in time to see Seungwan being pushed outside the house.

This shocked Joohyun after seeing Seungwan's face covered in severe bruises and cuts.

Then she heard a deep, loud voice from a man who looked exactly like Seungwan. But his face was a little more fierce than his. What he's saying to Seungwan was muffled so she couldn't catch his words properly. Then she heard Seungwan yelling at his father. "You killed her?! She's your daughter, Appa! How could you do such a thing to her—"

"SHUT THE F*CK UP, YOU PIECE OF SH*T!" barked Mr. Son, his evil eyes glaring at Seungwan. The boy glared back, clearly seeing his bravery and courage unlike his father's.

"You're the worst person in the world! I wished you weren't my father!"

Joohyun gasped loudly as she saw Mr. Son punching him hard in the face, causing the boy to fall to the ground hopelessly, miniscule drops of blood splattering to the sidewalk.

"Then I don't want to have a b*tch as my son! I don't want Seunghyeon to be me child either, Seungwan. Do you f*cking understand?" bellowed the man fiercely when he grabbed his son by the throat. A lady nearby could be heard screaming in her house after witnessing what happened. Others tried to stop them but are too afraid to fight the man.

"Hmph...ARGH!" The boy tried his very best to break free from his father's grip but he gets weaker and weaker the longer Mr. Son hold on. Joohyun had the feeling to save him from his dad. She must do it.

Then she saw Seungwan's face turning purple, which means she has to save him _now_.

The girl turned around against her window and sped out of her bedroom. She then encountered the stairs and skipped two steps at a time carelessly, not even minding her own safety.

She only cares about Seungwan now. She doesn't want him to suffer like that.

As she made her way to the hallway where the front door is placed, she released a soft sigh. The door was getting closer and closer, she could feel her heart racing. She stood in front of it and with shaking hands, she pressed the passcode of the door and sighed again.

_'Here we go,'_

Joohyun held the doorknob with shaking hands and pushed it down. The door opened with a soft click and now she's starting to breathe fresh, natural air from the outside. Joohyun closed her eyes, feeling the air flowing through her nostrils. She wanted to stay like this for a while, but this wasn't the time.

The girl quickly wore her mom's shoes and ran out of the house.

She turned left and ran as fast as she can towards the father and son. Meanwhile, her mother saw her running swiftly and gasped incredulously at the sight. "Bae Joohyun!" cried her mother from the garden. The girl ignored her and kept on going. As long as she didn't feel the pain in her lungs, it's okay.

"Stop!" cried Joohyun as she kicked Mr. Son in the shins, causing him to howl in pain. Seungwan was dropped to the ground while coughing violently and his eyes drooping a little. "Seungwan? Are you okay?" Joohyun ran to the boy and knelt down beside him, holding his arm securely.

"J-Joohyun? W-Why are you h-here—?"

The girl was about to answer when Mr. Son pointed her with his eyes wide. "Who the f*ck are you? Are you his girlfriend?!" Mr. Son's pupils dilated even more after seeing Joohyun hugging the boy. "It's none of your business, mister! What you're doing is against the law—"

"This is none of _your_ business, you little sh*t! Get the f*ck out of here!"

"J-Joohyun, leave us alone." Seungwan weakly told her with another weak cough when Joohyun shook her head. "No, I'm staying with you. What he's doing is wrong." wept Joohyun, tears now staring to brim in her eyes. "N-No, Joohyun. You weren't supposed to be here." Seungwan gave her a weak smile when they could hear Mrs. Bae running towards them.

"Bae Joohyun!" Mrs. Bae widened her eyes in disbelief at the two. "What were you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!" Mrs. Bae almost screamed at her daughter. "And who's that? Are you two together?"

Joohyun was about to answer when her mother took her by the arm, pulling her away from the boy. "No, wait! I want to comfort him!" cried Joohyun, trying to pull her arm out of her mother's hold.

Neighbors now started to watch the scene in interest and in horror. They even started whispering to one another about Joohyun being outside. Most of the neighbors knew the Bae family too, especially Joohyun.

"Joohyun, you're sick! Go back inside and we'll talk!"

Joohyun looked back the boy sadly. The boy looked up at her and nodded slowly, giving her a sign that she needs to follow her mom.

"B-But, what about you?" sniffled Joohyun, her lips trembling and quivering. Mrs. Bae pulled her by the arm and brought her back in the house with Seungwan watching her from behind.

Later, the two arrived in the house with Mrs. Bae looking stern and furious. Closing the door behind her, Mrs. Bae ordered her daughter to sit on the couch. Joohyun followed her with a scowl on her face.

"Joohyun, didn't I tell you to never step outside of our home?" Mrs. Bae's voice was now grave and stern. Joohyun has acted stubborn and sighed loudly. "I didn't feel any pain at all, mom! So just let me be—"

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I WAS WORRIED TO DEATH IF YOU'LL GO OUTSIDE?!" Mrs. Bae yelled, her voice high-pitched and exasperated. "Joohyun, please don't do that again!"

Her mother massaged her forehead, looking stressed and worried at the same time. "And is that boy your boyfrie—?"

"He's my _friend_ , mom." The girl lied calmly. She saw her mother sighing in relief but her angry expression was still there in her face. "Alright," breathed Mrs. Bae with her eyes tightly closed. "Make sure that you'll never ever do that again. I'm worried when you do that." said Mrs. Bae before going back outside the garden.

After watching her leave, Joohyun sighed and walked upstairs.

Arriving there, she saw Seungwan sitting at his desk, his face still full of bruises and cuts. The boy signed her to look at her phone and read his message. So the girl did what he said and saw his message:

_'Am I still going to your house next week?'_

The girl smiled weakly and looked back at the boy, who is trying to smile brightly in front of her. She smiled back hesitantly and texted:

_'Yes,'_

The girl wanted to ask Seungwan what had happened between him and his father. She also remembered every word that she heard days ago.

_'You killed her!'_

_'She's your daughter, Appa!'_

What was he talking about? Was Seungwan referring to Seunghyeon?

Well, they are the only siblings, according to Seungwan. Joohyun also realized that Seunghyeon hadn't show up to her for days. There must be happening to Seunghyeon.

Thoughts continued to grow in her mind, whether about what's going on between Seungwan and his father and the plan that they've been working hard on. The girl didn't have the courage to ask what's happening to Seungwan's family because it'll be embarrassing once she did that.

Mrs. Bae also changed her job from a doctor to an employee on a company somewhere near their neighborhood.

Still, the two continued to talk through their windows, laughing and giggling at their cheesy messages despite having a lot of problems in life. They tried to forget the bad stuff and focus on the good, happy ones. Seungwan also told Joohyun that his father left and discovered that he had another woman.

Now Seungwan's staying at the house, all alone without his little assistant. But he studied hard and started to work part-time as a cashier in a café.

Finally, the day has finally come.

_*RING RING RING*_

Joohyun woke up from the sound of her alarm clock and smiled as soon as she sat up on bed. Turning her head to the window, she saw Seungwan the same thing, and grinned at each other at their own messy appearances.

 _'You're cute.'_ texted the girl with a smirk.

 _'Thanks, you too, Joohyun.'_ Seungwan replied with a shy smile.

So Joohyun asked her mother yesterday on what time she'll be leaving home. Her answer is probably in 7:30 or 7:40 in the morning. They woke up at eight and started preparing themselves.

Joohyun was in her closet, currently trying to find the perfect outfit for today. She's been taking out almost all of her clothes from the closet and tried them on. Once satisfied on her outfit, she went to her vanity table next, starting to put a little makeup in her face. But before that, she watched her favorite YouTubers who did a makeup.

In the other hand, Seungwan was busy figuring out if he looks better with gel on his hair or not. The boy wasn't that fond of gel anyways, so he chose not to. Well, he's hair wasn't that messy anyway and he's comfortable with it.

After those, they're now ready to see each other in person. Aunt Yehyun visited Seungwan and had a little chat with him inside his home. Joohyun is now sitting on one of the couches, experimenting on how to sit like a real lady.

She's all set, but why does she feel extremely nervous? Joohyun decided to search in the Internet on how to do some breathing exercises.

Right after the video ended, Joohyun heard the doorbell ring, which almost gave her a heart attack. She abruptly stood up from the couch and ran to the hallway to check the CCTV screen if it really was Seungwan. Her pupils dilated at the sight of him. He was just wearing a casual outfit and the cuts and bruises looked like they disappeared promptly from his face.

He looks unbelievably...how do you say this in an 'innocent' way?

Toothsome.

Yeah, that does sound a little 'innocent'.

"Alright, Joohyun. Stay calm and try to act as normal as possible." Joohyun muttered as she looked back again at Seungwan.

"Gosh, he's handsome." Joohyun started to fan herself using her bare hands while biting her lips. "Alright," The girl pressed the passcode and opened the door slowly. "Hello, dear!" Aunt Yehyun gave her a big grin while holding Seungwan by the arm.

He and she looked at each other and looked away almost immediately. "U-Um, hey." Seungwan awkwardly scratched his nape. Joohyun pursed her lips and said, "Hey,"

"Alright, dears. Let's go inside." Aunt Yehyun brightly told them, almost pushing them inside the house. "Okay, dears, I'll be just outside by the garden, alright? Hyunjoo told me to water the plants right after I arrive." grinned the lady before leaving the house.

Now it's only Joohyun and Seungwan in the house. "Ugh, sit." Joohyun told the boy, sitting first on the three-seater couch. The boy nodded obediently and sat on the left side, leaving a space between the two. "So...how are you?" Seungwan asked the girl. Joohyun took a quick glance of Seungwan. "W-Well, just fine, as usual." The girl let out a short giggle.

"Anyways, what do you usually do at this time?" questioned Seungwan, trying to lighten the mood even just a tiny bit.

"Oh, um, eating breakfast." replied the girl, giving the boy a grin. "Have you eaten already?" He asked.

"Um, not yet." answered Joohyun in a tiny voice. She felt really embarrassed right now. She forgot to eat breakfast before he arrived. "I-It's alright! There must be leftover food in the fridge." Joohyun quickly added before getting up from the couch and jogged towards the kitchen.

She mumbled a prayer that she'll find food in the fridge but when she opened it, she found a piece of banana and two strawberries. "Great, I thought my mom left me some oatmeal." The girl gritted her teeth, closing the fridge before her. "Um, do you need help?"

Joohyun suddenly discovered Seungwan standing right behind her, which scared her a little.

"O-Oh, u-um," The girl stuttered like crazy after being startled. "Well, sure— I MEAN, I know to cook so it's fine—"

"Aunt Yehyun told me that you don't know how to after your mother being strict and all. Come on, I'll cook whatever food you like." said the boy simply as he took the banana and strawberries out of the fridge. "N-No, wait, that's fine—"

"I insist, I want to make food for you, alright? So what would you want me to cook?"

"Oatmeal, please."

"Alright, coming right up." grinned the boy as he opened a drawer under a kitchen counter. "Sit right there and I'll call you once I'm done." Seungwan gave her a warm grin right before he turned the stove on. The girl wanted to speak but as she watched, Seungwan seemed to enjoy it. Seeing that smile on that face made her heart melt, so she decided to let the boy do whatever he wants as long as he's happy to do it.

"Breakfast is here!" called Seungwan playfully, putting the bowl on the dining table.

"Thanks," The girl thanked him with a giggle and sat on her place with Seungwan sitting right beside her.

"I never thought that your mother could ban you from cooking. I mean, what's really wrong for you to cook?" Seungwan gave Joohyun a quirked brow, which made him look adorable.

"Probably because the smoke, if it was frying or something, or maybe because of the meat? I don't really know." shrugged the girl. "That's fine," The boy chuckled, watching Joohyun eat her oatmeal. Then she stopped eating and turned her head to him.

"Um," She shyly blushed after realizing Seungwan staring at her with endearing eyes. Meanwhile, he acted oblivious and looked at her, confused. "Huh? Why are you blushing?" He asked her innocently when she laughed and playfully slapped his arm. "Nothing, you're just cute." Joohyun consciously fixed her hair with a bashful smile.

Seungwan blushed at her sudden compliment and giggled.

The two had started to hang out inside the house. While Aunt Yehyun made lunch, both of them are in Joohyun's room, doing video games on her TV and watched movies together.

They also talked about their favorites and in their shock, they almost have the same stuff in common too, which made them even closer. Next, they decided to have a painting contest by drawing their favorite stuff. Since Seungwan already has the courage, he drew his favorite thing and showed it to the girl after they judged their own paintings. The girl blushed furiously after seeing her own picture that he drew.

After all those tiring but fun activities, the two sat right in front of Joohyun's enormous window and watched the stars twinkle at night with Seungwan teaching her the constellations and Joohyun using her binoculars to see them up close.

With a sigh, he turned his head to the girl, who is still busy observing the stars in awe.

 _'Beautiful,'_ thought Seungwan, staring at Joohyun's side profile lovingly. He moved a little closer to her without her noticing and inched his face closer to her cheek. Joohyun removed her binoculars from her face and turned her head to the boy.

"They look cool—"

She froze after realizing their faces being inches close to each other. They didn't move and took a moment to admire each other's faces when the boy broke the moment by clearing his throat awkwardly. "Ahem, s-sorry about that." He bashfully moved a little farther from Joohyun. "No, wait," Joohyun blurted her words out, making Seungwan a little perplexed.

Her eyes went down on Seungwan's kissable lips. She wants to do it now. She wants to do it with him.

"N-No, s-sorry." She shook her head. "That's alright," sighed the boy. They both looked up at the stars again, deep in their thoughts.

"You know," The boy began when Joohyun looked at him to listen. "I already missed Seunghyeon. She's the best sister I've had." He added with a grin, his eyes still glued on the stars in the night sky. "What happened to Seunghyeon? Where is she now?" questioned the girl.

Seungwan turned his head to her and chuckled softly. "She died from a car crash. My father killed her with his own car." He replied like it's the most okay-est thing.

Joohyun gasped. "She died? You're father killed _her_?" She looked astounded as ever.

"Yeah, she might've seen our mother now. She kept dreaming of Eomma before she died."

The girl eyed him, feeling a little sorry for Seungwan's loss. She must do something to comfort him, she said in her head.

Then without knowing, Joohyun moved closer to the boy and kissed his cheek tenderly, making him jump a little. "I-I'm sorry, Seungwan." The girl tried to act calm again. "I've been there too. I lost my father." She sighed, looking up at the stars again.

Seungwan grabbed her in the cheeks with incredibly gentle hands and kissed her right in the lips. It was sweet, tender and lovely, it felt like heaven. Seungwan broke the kiss and gazed at the girl in the eye. "I...I love you, Joohyun. I really do." He whispered softly, still holding Joohyun's face like his life depends on it.

Without answering, the girl kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck securely, making sure they wouldn't break the kiss. Seungwan was startled at first but he immediately kissed her too and slowly wrapped his arms around Joohyun's waist.

They shared their first kiss that night and it was sweet as honey and candy. They took a moment to enjoy it and closed their eyes to savour some more of their first kiss. Once they broke it to get some air, they stuck their foreheads together and giggled.

It was a magnificent night.


	8. A Picture From Hawaii

"I'm going to miss you once you arrived back home." said Joohyun softly. The two are currently in the hallway in front of the door, saying 'goodbye' to one another. They're standing in front of each other, talking about of how much they'll miss each other.

Aunt Yehyun was waiting for them outside and giving some privacy for them to talk.

And yeah, she loves seeing them together.

"Don't worry, I'll probably come back tomorrow. I mean, I'll study for a few hours then I'll visit you at probably at twelve noon." The boy glanced at his watch with a small pout.

"Alright, but make sure to put every word in your head. Don't rush too much." Joohyun grinned innocently while adorably playing with her feet. The boy giggled at her cuteness and gave her a brief wave. "Bye then," grinned the boy, about to grab the doorknob when Joohyun hugged him tightly. The boy widened his eyes in surprise but chuckled right after and hugged her back.

"Bye," She finally let go of him after a minute of hugging him. With a chuckle, Seungwan said, "I hope you won't distract me with your beauty."

"Ya, stop being cheesy." Joohyun punched him in the chest a little harshly.

"Ah, alright..." He laughed, clearly enjoying his little time with the girl. "Go on then, my mom's coming in a few minutes." said Joohyun when Seungwan nodded and finally left the house with a last glimpse at the girl.

Sighing contentedly, Joohyun locked the front door and went back up to the bedroom to read Seungwan's recipe book.

The recipe book was completely made by Seungwan since he uses bond papers and tapes and other school supplies to make the book. Inside the book, Joohyun saw a bunch of lovely doodles and and stickers in the pages. She also noticed that the illustrations are drawn by hand, which impressed her a lot. The drawings look so detailed and flawless in an adorable way.

What Joohyun loves the most is that kept on putting reminders in some random pages saying:

_'Be careful! Onions can make you cry!'_

_'Use your knife properly! I don't want to see you hurt.'_

_'Make sure to wash your fruits thoroughly!'_

The handwriting was a little messy, although it fits the cheerful mood of the recipe book. "Cute," murmured Joohyun as she gazed at the pages of the book with heart eyes.

"Joohyun?" The girl suddenly heard her mom's voice echoing through her bedroom door.

"Joohyun? Sweetie? Could you please get the alcohol spray in the center table?" called Mrs. Bae. "Sure," replied the girl as she hopped out of her bed and ran down the staircase. She ran towards the living room, snatched the alcohol spray from the center table and gave it to her mother.

"Thank you so much, sweetie." Mrs. Bae gave her a genuine yet tiring smile at her daughter. Joohyun's followed her mother's hands as Mrs. Bae puts her handbag near the shoe rack and took the spray from the girl.

"Did you buy some ramen, mom—?" Joohyun was about to take the paper bag from the ground when her mother gave her a menacing look.

"Sweetie, the groceries aren't clean. Let me spray them first, alright?" said Mrs. Bae with her dangerously sweet voice and started spraying the groceries furiously. Joohyun expected her mother to just spray one time at each paper bag but noticed that her mother was spraying the bags for approximately seven to eight times already.

"Um, mom, I think you're making the bags wet—"

"Alright, Joohyun. Wait for these to dry and you can put away these groceries." grinned her mother innocently, as if she hadn't looked scary a while ago. "Okay..." Joohyun watched her mother walking pass and went straight upstairs while carrying her handbag.

As the days have passed, Joohyun and Seungwan's relationship grew steadily as they spend time with each other in the girl's house. The girl wouldn't even forgot the time when she and Seungwan first made out in the kitchen while Aunt Yehyun wasn't around.

Aunt Yehyun even persuaded Joohyun to go outdoors to experience even just for a brief second.

She even told Joohyun stories about Seungwan when he was still a little boy, causing him to blush in embarrassment. "Oh, I also remember when Seungwan was still three! He looks adorable when he's in the huge bathtub—"

"Ahem, Aunt Yehyun," The boy whispered near the woman's ear. "Please stop this," He added in a tiny voice. Meanwhile, Joohyun is giggling at Seungwan's already red face, looking like he's about to throw up after hearing Aunt Yehyun's stories about his baby self. Then Joohyun smirked at her thought. "Tell me more, Aunt Yehyun! I find Baby Seungwan cute—"

"Aunt Yehyun, please don't do it." Seungwan almost begged, holding the woman's hand tightly. "Come on, please." The boy pouted.

The woman just giggled at the two and sighed contentedly. "I'll stop if you take Joohyun on a date." whispered Aunt Yehyun with a cheeky grin. Seungwan's eyes widened at her words and shook his head.

"Aunt Yehyun, Mrs. Bae will be cross about it." whispered the boy anxiously.

"Just kidding! Anyways, I'm going to cook dinner for you two." winked Aunt Yehyun at the two before getting up from the couch and making her way to the kitchen. "What is she whispering to you?" questioned Joohyun, looking at the boy innocently. "Oh, nothing, just got a little confused at what she's saying." Seungwan shrugged the embarrassment off and gave the girl a beam.

The girl shrugged and took his hand fervently. "Come on, now. Let's play video games in my room. I'm starting to get a little bored." She said, getting up from her couch by hopping a little like the bunny that she is.

"Sure," smiled Seungwan, following the girl while holding hands with her.

As they entered, Joohyun turned the TV on and took a CD of the video game that both liked from the drawer below the TV set. "PUBG again, huh?" chuckled Seungwan while sitting at Joohyun's bed. "Of course," grinned the girl when she inserted the CD into the player.

Then she stopped and slowly turned her head to Seungwan. The boy noticed her actions and quirked his brow obliviously.

"What?"

"I won yesterday, right?" asked Joohyun, her eyes now narrowed. Seungwan looked at the TV and nodded with a small pout. "Why?"

"You promised me to give me a kiss in the cheek."

Seungwan tilted his head a little and looked at the girl. "Okay then," He giggled as he approached Joohyun and kissed her in the cheek tenderly. Meanwhile, Joohyun isn't satisfied by his reward and told him to kiss her in the lips. Without hesitation, he did her orders and kissed her in the lips passionately when Joohyun suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

"Can we make out?" Joohyun looked up at the boy's eyes intently after breaking the kiss. "Why do you ask?" chuckled the boy, kissing Joohyun again. But this time, their kiss grew intense when they started to use their tongues

It's actually their first time doing it and it felt great in a good and bad way like a little kid eating sugar secretly without their parents knowing.

Their tongues clashed and swirled in their mouths, trying to fight who's dominant between them. Seungwan's arms snaked around Joohyun's slim waist and hugged her tighter to savor more of their heated kiss. Their faces started to blush as they made out, clearly wanting something more than this.

After a few minutes of the heated kiss, they broke it and looked at each other, panting.

"W-Well..." Joohyun looked up Seungwan, her arms still wrapped around his neck while panting heavily. "I...I didn't expect this to be _this_ good." smiled the boy when Joohyun chuckled. Her hands gently caressed his nape as she looked onto his magnificent, dark brown orbs.

After trying to control his hormones, Seungwan pushed Joohyun onto a wall and pinned her, looking at that pretty face fiercely. "Woah, I never saw you this fierce before." Joohyun gave him a mischievous smirk.

Without answering, Seungwan slammed his lips onto Joohyun's, sharing a heated french kiss with her.

He also went down to pepper wet kisses on Joohyun's neck. The girl sighed and bit her lip after feeling Seungwan's hand snaking up inside her shirt. "Hey," She giggled. "Sshh, let's have fun even just for a while." whispered the boy before having another french kiss with the girl. Breaking the kiss to get some air, Seungwan nuzzled his face on Joohyun's neck and smelled Joohyun's addicting, strawberry scented cologne.

"Cute," muttered Seungwan after smelling the girl's scent. "Oh, Seungwan..." sighed Joohyun after the boy bit her neck. "I want to continue this on my bed." whined the girl as Seungwan stopped kissing her neck and looked up at her, looking fiercer than ever.

So without even answering, he carried Joohyun, which made her yelp softly, and was about to put her in the bed when the door clicked open.

A jolt of electricity ran through both of their spines as they turned their heads at the intruder.

"Seungwan? Joohyun—AH!"

Both of them jumped in surprise and Seungwan immediately separated with Joohyun. "Oh my goodness! W-What were you two doing—”

"N-Nothing!" Seungwan stammered, trying to give Aunt Yehyun a grin but failed after feeling the pain growing in his red cheeks. Joohyun stood frozen in front of the boy and is way to stiff to make a move. Seungwan and Joohyun looked at each other and blushed furiously, starting to feel a little shy towards each other.

The woman wanted to speak but she's too stunned to even do so. She have known these two since they were still babies and known them for being innocent and pure but after seeing this—

"Oh dears, you two..." She stuttered and rubbed her eyes furiously, not believing what had happened towards the two. "Um, Aunt Yehyun," The girl finally speak after ten minutes of standing still. "P-Please don't tell this to mom." Her voice is tiny and weak, she felt embarrassed and ashamed after her mother's friend caught her making out with the boy.

"C-Come on now," The woman cleared her throat and tried her real best to forget about the moment.

"I m-made lunch for you two." She sniffed and quickly closed the door before leaving them.

"These children nowadays..." whispered Aunt Yehyun, trotting her way down the stairs before Seungwan and Joohyun followed her awkwardly.

Joohyun felt bothered after Seungwan told her that he has to stay home to study for his upcoming exams. She couldn't even resist for waiting one week before Seungwan comes back.

The boy was feeling the same thing and is distracted easily once he took a brief glimpse of the girl through her bedroom window. Well, both failed trying to ignore each other and ended up having long calls that lasts probably from morning to noon before Mrs. Bae came back home.

Although Joohyun tried to help Seungwan on studying, which made him happier than ever.

"Thanks for helping me study, Joohyun." thanked the boy, giving her beam. "You're giving me more hope that I'll pass the exams tomorrow." He added and chuckled. Joohyun blushed and smiled back. "No problem. And also, good luck." She winked adorably. The boy sighed and took the time to admire Joohyun's beauty.

The girl realized what he's doing and said, "I miss you already, Seungwan."

"Me too, but don't worry. I'll promise you that I'll be back as soon as school finished." said the boy. Joohyun nodded and sighed softly, feeling a little nervous for Seungwan taking the exams tomorrow.

"I love you, Joohyun."

"I love you too."

It hurts to Joohyun that she'll be not seeing Seungwan for a few days after the boy needs to focus on his studies. She understands this and let him be, even though it upsets her a little. She wants Seungwan to get what he wants, she wants to support on whatever he's doing as long as he's happy with it.

She waited and she waited for a week and haven't received any messages and calls from the boy. The girl tried so hard to avoid him and just ended herself just gazing at the pastel yellow curtains of Seungwan's window blankly.

Aunt Yehyun did notice her and tried to cheer her up by telling her more stories of Baby Seungwan.

Yeah, Joohyun did laugh at those cute and adventurous stories but after that, she'll still think of the boy unless Aunt Yehyun was there to distract her again by telling more stories about him. Mrs. Bae, in the other hand, was a little suspicious at her daughter's sudden behavior. Joohyun tried to hide that uneasy feeling from her mother, but that doesn't stop Mrs. Bae from asking her a ton of questions why she's acting nervous and apprehensive.

"Mom, stop it, will you? I'm already exhausted from your questions." sighed the girl as she sipped on her bowl full of ramen.

Mrs. Bae shook her head and said, "But, sweetie, I'm just concerned. I don't want to see my daughter looking tense and all." said Mrs. Bae, looking obviously worried.

"Thanks for the ramen, mom." Joohyun took her bowl, got up from her seat and puts it on the kitchen sink blankly.

Mrs. Bae watched her daughter with unease and sighed. "Sweetie, I care, alright? I'm sorry if I'm invading your privacy too much..." said her mother in a soft, weak voice. The girl stayed near the sink for a while, her back facing her mother. She felt her anger against her mother falter in a mere second.

"That's fine," said Joohyun, even though she felt stupid for just replying that to her mother's apology. Well, some of her anger are still inside but she felt the sincerity of her mother's apology. And also, it's childish to just say that, Joohyun thought.

"Anyways," She began, trying to sound upbeat and purposely changing the topic to avoid any awkward atmosphere. The girl turned around to face her mother, saying, "I'm going to study upstairs, see you later."

"Sure, sweetie." replied Mrs. Bae with a small smile, watching Joohyun walking towards the stairs. When she took the final step on the staircase, she realized that Seungwan will be coming tomorrow. Excitement rushed through her blood as she entered her bedroom and checked the calendar. She's been waiting for a week without even realizing!

"Yes!" cheered Joohyun, giggling as she took one of her pillows from her bed and hugged it tightly, imagining it as Seungwan.

"I hope you're doing great in your exams, Seungwan. You'll finally go back tomorrow!" squealed Joohyun as she twirled gracefully, still hugging her pillow securely.

Joohyun never felt this happy before. Her life has been colorful when Seungwan arrived in her life, making her warm and joyful all day. Then when the boy entered the house with a handful of roses and a huge stuffed bunny, Joohyun almost cried for seeing him for the first time in one week and ran to him, giving him a tight embrace. Aunt Yehyun silently passed by and watched the two lovebirds with a motherly smile.

"How's exams?" asked Joohyun, ignoring the stuffed toy and the roses first. "Good enough. I'm having a good feeling that I'll pass." grinned the boy, kissing Joohyun's forehead lovingly.

"Here's my gift to you, Joohyun. Thanks for helping me study." Seungwan gave her the roses, staring at Joohyun with an endearing gaze. "Seungwan, you don't need to give me a present." sniffled Joohyun as she took the roses from him. "And did you just waste money for that obnoxiously huge bunny? Are you crazy?" She punched him in the chest.

Seungwan chuckled and shook his head. "That's alright. I also applied as a worker in a cafe somewhere here in this neighborhood, I'll get money." He winked cutely.

"F-Fine," Joohyun took the bunny, her face still covered in tear stains. "Thanks for this bunny..."

"A cute bunny next to another cute bunny." Seungwan pinched Joohyun's cheek.

They went upstairs with Seungwan helping Joohyun on carrying the stuffed toy. The boy giggled every time Joohyun carried it around her bedroom with a beam. The bunny is practically as big as the girl, which is an endearing sight to Seungwan's eyes.

The boy is sitting at the bed, examining the room detail by detail while Joohyun is sitting near her desk drawing Seungwan. His eyes went from the ceiling, which is painted just like the sky outside with drawings of several birds. He thought, could Joohyun's father painted that for her?

"I like your recipe book." Joohyun began, putting aside her notebook and pencil to her desk. "Really? Did you use it?" asked the boy, his eyes full of anticipation.

"Well, just reading it. I tried to cook but I'm still afraid." She admitted, looking a little downcast. Seungwan smiled warmly at the girl and approached her. "Hey, don't be sad." He said, bending down to meet the girl's magnificent doe eyes. "I'll teach you now. Come on," Seungwan offered his hand to her.

Joohyun looked at it reluctantly and sighed. "Aunt Yehyun's there, downstairs." She responded wearily.

"No, she's probably in the garden, watering the plants." The boy then gave Joohyun a kiss on her cheek. "I'll be your cooking teacher now. Let's go," He took her hand and gently pulled her from her seat. "Alright," She said before both of them went out of the bedroom and down the staircase.

To Joohyun's surprise, Aunt Yehyun wasn't in the living room at all and she's outside watering the plants. She saw her through the window near the TV set, trying her best to give them enough water.

"I told you," said Seungwan with a shrug, as though reading Joohyun's thoughts. The girl followed him heading to the kitchen and watched him taking a pot from below the kitchen counter. "What are we going to cook anyway?" Joohyun stood beside Seungwan.

"Hmm, what about Tteokbokki? That's your favorite food, am I right?"

"Yeah," giggled the girl. "Alright then, let's start." grinned Seungwan. Well, Joohyun expected their cooking lesson to be normal and serious since Seungwan taught her with a gentle yet serious voice but when Joohyun was passing by to get something, the boy suddenly kissed her right in the lips. Sneaky.

Next, Seungwan taught Joohyun how to handle a knife by standing right behind her and holding her hands to guide her. This made the girl blush after he gave her another set of sneaky kisses on the side of her temple and ears while cutting the onions.

After finally finishing the cooking lesson, it's time for them to eat their meal.

The meal looked great after Seungwan handles most of it, but he still feels proud to the girl no matter what. "You're good at handling knives now, Joohyun." chuckled Seungwan, taking another piece of spicy rice cake into his mouth.

"Yeah, sure, I even got a small cut in my pinky." She rolled her eyes. "But still, I'm proud of you." He winked, achieving the girl to smile like an idiot. "There's that smile," He sighed softly.

"What? I'm not smiling," Joohyun scowled at the boy. "You know, you still look cute even when you're scowling." He gave her a smug look, which actually made her annoyed and shy at the same time. "Whatever, Seungwan."

Suddenly, they heard the front door open. Both expected it to be Aunt Yehyun but it's Mrs. Bae, glaring at them in a menacingly grave way. "M-Mom!" Joohyun got up from her chair abruptly, so is Seungwan.

"Joohyun, I need to talk to you." said Mrs. Bae in a low, intimidating manner, glaring at the boy who's looking as shocked as Joohyun. "And you," She turned her head to Seungwan. "Get out of this house right now—"

"No! S-Seungwan, stay here—"

"Bae Joohyun, don't you ever let him stay here again." Mrs. Bae's voice sound dangerously calm right now and Joohyun had no choice but to let Seungwan leave the house. He gave her a last glimpse before finally leaving, leaving both mother and daughter in the dining area. "Mom..." Joohyun looked furious and tense, her fists tightly closed and her face blank and expressionless.

"I can expla—"

"What are you doing, Joohyun? What are you doing?!" Mrs. Bae raised her voice a little yet it is loud enough to make the walls of the whole house ring.

Joohyun flinched, but still managed to put on her blank face. "H-He's just a friend, mom!"

"But I saw you two kissing each other through the window! Joohyun, what you're doing is dangerous!"

"I-I don't care if it's dangerous! I w-want to experience new stuff, mom!" Joohyun began to raise her voice in front of Mrs. Bae, though her voice was shaking a little and she knew very well that it's wrong to shout at your mother. Her mother was being too much now and she couldn't hold it any longer anymore.

An eerie silence took over them after Joohyun yelled at her mother. Mrs. Bae was staring at her daughter blankly, which is ten times scarier and menacing than giving her a glare. The girl couldn't even look at her after not seeing her mother being this serious after years of living with her. "You do know that it's wrong to shout at your own mother, Bae Joohyun." said Mrs. Bae blankly, her eyes still staring at the girl.

"I-I know, mom. It's just...It's just you're already too much! I wasn't even screaming in pain when I stepped outside and I felt nothing at all when those stuff happened! I don't even think that I'm sick..."

She paused after hearing her mom sigh softly. There are still a lot of stuff that Joohyun wanted to say but she stopped herself, trying not to go too far. "Joohyun, you're sick, alright?" Mrs. Bae's voice was now calm and low. "Listen, I remembered the time when you were little...you were having a very high fever right after you finished playing in the playgrounds."

"I don't want to lose you, Joohyun. So please stay at home." She held her daughter's arm gently.

The girl stared at her mother's calm and pleading eyes, trying her very best to not feel angry towards her.

"Fine, I'll be in my room." Joohyun slowly removed her mother's arm and walked upstairs without a word. Mrs. Bae watched her silently until the girl entered her bedroom and closed the door.

The girl ran to her bed and covered herself with the blanket as she cried softly. She's frustrated that her mother is still believing that she's sick even though she once ran outside in front of her very eyes. She peered to Seungwan's window and saw him reading a book in his desk. Now what would she do? Her mother already stopped trusting Aunt Yehyun and is now staying in the house tomorrow.

She couldn't help but cry some more after losing hope of not seeing Seungwan in personal ever again.

Until she caught her eyes with the picture of her family near the door frame. There, she sees her mother holding a baby, and realized that it's herself when she was probably six or seven months old. Her father was there too, hugging both her and Mrs. Bae, clearly seeing the bliss and joy in his grin.

Then to Joohyun's shock, they were in a beach, the waves on the background crashing and the wind billowing through her parents' clothes. Next, she saw a name below the picture saying 'Hawaii' in an adorable font. Joohyun suddenly had an idea and jumped out of her bed to sit on her desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little bad on writing making out scenes so please bear with me! :)


	9. A Ride to Jeju Island

Mrs. Bae is currently trying to break contact with her friend, Aunt Yehyun, after letting Seungwan coming into the house without her permission. Aunt Yehyun did the same after not wanting to bother Mrs. Bae that much and decided to talk to Joohyun through messaging.

Joohyun is upset after knowing that she'll never be seeing Aunt Yehyun after her mother decided to stop working to guard and protect her daughter.

Being back on her original routine is killing Joohyun(not literally) since Seungwan wasn't with her anymore. They're back to talking and calling through their phones but their love didn't change even though they're separated from each other. She also tried to ignore her mother after what happened between them days ago while Mrs. Bae tried her best to talk to her.

But after seeing that picture of herself in Hawaii, Joohyun decided to take another step further on managing this kind of situation.

"Joohyun? Come down and eat lunch!" called Mrs. Bae while releasing a tiring sigh, putting the bowl at the dining table. The girl heard her mother and walked downstairs and went straight to the dining table without saying a word to Mrs. Bae. "Thanks," is the only word that Joohyun keeps saying to her mother whenever she made food.

Her mother slowly sat on the opposite side of the table and stared at her daughter eating her lunch. "Sweetie," called Mrs. Bae in a gentle voice. Joohyun ignored her, her eyes glued to her meal and her head faced down.

"Sweetie, I'll be staying with you again. Just like the old days."

The girl said nothing. Mrs. Bae sighed again and rested her elbow at the dining table. "Dr. Joo will coming tomorrow too. To check if you're well and all." She added and gave her daughter a small smile. Joohyun hummed in response and finished her meal.

"Sure, mom. Thanks for the food again. They're delicious." She said half-heartedly before leaving Mrs. Bae in the dining table. "Very well," She replied softly, getting up from her seat and taking the empty dishes to wash them.

Entering her bedroom, Joohyun ran to her desk and opened her laptop. She remembered that she previously opened a credit card online and that made her even more confident about what she's planning. In her laptop, she bought two plane tickets to go to Jeju Island.

"Yes!" She squealed after finally buying those tickets. She's been planning to do this for days now and she'll be inviting Seungwan to come with her. She'll be experiencing the island's beautiful landscape and swim in the blue waters with him.

Although, she is still nervous about riding a plane since she never rode one and she is very scared of heights.

After buying those tickets, Joohyun called Seungwan and told him all about it.

"What? Are you sure you can handle flying?" asked Seungwan in concern while Joohyun chuckled and nodded. "Yes, it's because you're right beside me and I know that you'll cuddle with me throughout the flight." giggled the girl, so as Seungwan. "Okay then, but I'm still worried about you flying." He shrugged.

"Anyways, pack up. We'll leave tomorrow." smiled Joohyun when the boy nodded and grinned back at her.

The flight will be at twelve noon sharp and both of them woke up at five in the morning. Mrs. Bae was still sleeping at that time and she'll be up after an hour. Joohyun prepared everything now and all she need to do is to eat and take a bath. Fortunately, there is leftover food in the fridge and Joohyun heated it in the microwave.

But the food was her least favorite, chicken. She dislikes chicken ever since she was little because she hate it how it tastes. No one knows why she doesn't like the taste, especially Joohyun herself.

Finally, after dressing herself up for the flight, she tried her best to lift her luggage through the staircase.

And ever wonder where she got that luggage? She bought it online.

Anyways, she arrived at the bottom of the staircase and stayed there for a while to rest. She never thought that her luggage could be this heavy, she thought. Panting heavily, she continued to pull her luggage until she finally arrived at the front door. "Please tell me that the password is still the same." mumbled Joohyun as she typed the password on the front door.

Grasping the doorknob tightly with her sweaty hands, she pulled it down and it clicked softly. "Good," Joohyun sighed in relief before opening the door to see Seungwan standing a few feet away from the threshold. 

"Hey," grinned the girl, running towards him happily. Seungwan chuckled and hugged her tightly, smelling her strawberry scented cologne.

"Are you ready now?" asked Seungwan, examining the girl's condition. "You're sweating, what happened?" questioned the boy innocently. "Oh, just had a little difficulty on carrying by luggage through the staircase. It was almost impossible to not make a sound while doing it but luckily, my mom didn't wake up." beamed Joohyun.

"Alright then," Seungwan gently responded, kissing her crown lovingly. "Where are we riding?"

"In my car."

"You have a car already?"

"Yeah, just got my driver's license yesterday."

Joohyun's mouth fell open at the statement while Seungwan stared at her like getting a driver's license is the easiest thing in the world. The boy chortled and gently closed her mouth with a grin. "Hurry, your mom is going to wake up in a few minutes." He took her hand and also took her luggage.

"Oh, right," She blushed. They rode the jeep and put their stuff at the passenger's seat. "I've even bought a jeep for you to feel the air. Is that okay?" Seungwan raised his eyebrow with a smirk.

Joohyun blushed at how hot he is when he's wearing that kind of smirk and nodded. "Of course, I do. And also, you already bought this, idiot." said the girl, rolling her eyes playfully. "Well, I have another one in the garage. My dad left it since he thought that it's broken and he's too lazy to fix it anyways. So I fixed it instead." The boy bragged, giving Joohyun a cheesy wink.

Joohyun's face was red as a tomato when Seungwan approached her and opened the car door saying, "Hop on," while offering his hand to her. He was being very charming to Joohyun, it made the girl irritated and flustered at the same time. 

The girl punched him in the chest and flicked him in the forehead before riding the jeep. "Stop it, smarty pants. You're hot when you're doing that." Joohyun gave Seungwan a glare. "What? Did I just heard that right?" Seungwan hopped onto the car next and peered at the girl with a cheeky grin.

"Shut up and just move. Hurry!" urged Joohyun as she checked her watch and realized that it's already 6 o' clock. Seungwan quickly started the engine of the car and started to drive towards the airport. 

Once they hit the highway, Joohyun couldn't help but stare at all the huge, tall buildings of the city. She had never visited the city ever since and looking at this enormous buildings made her a little scared. Seungwan comforted her by playing her favorite music and both sang along with the songs played in the jeep.

They shared a laugh after telling each other jokes and Seungwan told Joohyun all about the city.

"Those buildings over there are hotels. There are swimming pools in there and even gyms if you wanted to exercise and get fit." said the boy while driving the jeep. "Oh, is that where you stay for a short time and all?" asked Joohyun as she looked at the hotels in awe and wonder.

"Yeah, but others used hotels as their permanent home. One of the perks are there will be a 24-hour reception and room service." added Seungwan. "Woah, really? I wish I could stay in a hotel." Joohyun turned her head to Seungwan and gave him a dreamy gaze. "Well, I reserved a hotel in Jeju. It'll be fantastic," grinned the boy.

Then he paused and wondered. 'It'll be fantastic,'

It sounds wrong...

He blushed after realizing what he'd said. What was he thinking? Hopefully, Joohyun heard it correctly and not the other way around...

He wanted to take it back but he couldn't even utter a word. It felt like his throat was being blocked by something. The girl noticed his behavior and his face getting red and furrowed her eyebrows in concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," responded Seungwan while nodding furiously. "Yeah, totally fine." He let out an awkward laugh. "Okay then, make sure to concentrate in driving or else we'll never get to Jeju Island." said Joohyun, poking Seungwan's cheek with a simper. "Of course, I will." Seungwan grinned before going back to driving.

"Anyways, please turn the audio on now. I want to listen to music."

They finally arrived in the airport and that doesn't stop Joohyun from being impressed about the outdoors. She didn't expect the airport to be this huge after she entered with Seungwan carrying both of their luggage.

"This is awesome!" Joohyun softly grinned at the boy like a little kid. "I know," He chortled before giving her a kiss in the crown. "Come on now, it's going to be seven o' clock." Seungwan beckoned Joohyun to follow him and they walked to the area where they'll check your luggage. Because of being thrilled, Joohyun couldn't help but continue to whine to Seungwan why the queue is long.

She's bored and restless since it will take several minutes for their turn. Meanwhile, Seungwan was having an idea on how to get her entertained. He hugged her tightly, engulfing Joohyun's small body like a stuffed toy. 

"You're warm~" Joohyun giggled while nuzzling her face onto Seungwan's broad chest. Luckily, only a few people noticed them and the others just don't give a damn about what's happening in their surroundings. 

"Have you visited Jeju before?" she asked. He nodded and said, "Yeah, when I was still five. But I could barely remember."

"Hmm, I visited Hawaii when I was months old."

"Really? Aren't you able to go out that time?" Seungwan carefully moved the trolley forward while Joohyun is cuddling him like a koala. "That's before my mom confirmed that I had SCID." She said simply. "SCID? Isn't that the 'Baby Bubble Disease'?" He asked, kinda remembering that he had already heard of SCID.

"Well, yeah, according to the website." shrugged Joohyun.

The queue lasted for a fifteen minutes and as soon as they finished weighing their luggage and sending it to the plane, Joohyun couldn't help let out a loud 'YES!' in the airport. Seungwan got embarrassed for a second but he soon got used to this girl's limitless energy about riding a plane.

They made their way to the immigration until they went to their terminal. "I never thought that we have to go through all of these." Joohyun said as she puts her shoes back on. Seungwan, who is doing the exact thing glanced at his watch while taking his backpack.

"It's still 7:30. Want to eat some snacks?" He helped Joohyun with her jacket. The girl tilted her head innocently and said that where would they eat when they are going to ride the plane by now. "Oh, there are shops and restaurants here just before the gate area. Let's grab a snack now." He took her hand and headed to McDonalds.

"Woah, I never thought that there will be restaurants and shops in an airport." She giggled as she ate her burger deliciously.

Seungwan chuckled and wiped the sauce with his bare hands just on Joohyun's chin. "Eat slowly, beautiful." He pinched her left cheek right after wiping. Joohyun blushed and slapped his arm.

"Gosh, stop it. I don't wanna look red in front of the public." said the girl, covering her cheek with her jacket. Seungwan then took her burger and took a bite out of it. "Hey! That's my burger!" She snatched her burger back, suddenly giving the boy a deadly glare. Seungwan widened his eyes and raised both of his hands as a sign of surrender.

"I...just love burgers..." She pouted cutely.

The two then continued bickering in the gate area, waiting for their plane to arrive. Apparently, they're arguing about not buying candies from a candy store that Joohyun love since she was a child. The argument ended with both cuddling and sharing a blanket when another argument began just after seconds.

The cycle continued until both fell asleep in each others arms after bickering for three hours straight. Apparently, they're tired for all those little fights.

Not so long at twelve noon, they entered the plane with Joohyun asking Seungwan endless questions about what's gonna happen inside the plane. or sometimes, just asking the same questions all over again.

"Sit, I'll put your bag on the compartment." He gave her a grin before putting both his and her bag into the compartment.

"This is nice," Joohyun smiled as she watched the boy sitting beside her. "Well, we'll be departing for a while." He sighed. Seungwan buckled his seat belt and glanced at Joohyun's.

"I don't know how to." She simply told him, signing him to help her buckle it.

Joohyun's couldn't stop shrieking as their plane took off from the airport. It took exactly an hour for Seungwan to calm her down and ended up her falling asleep for a good two hours in flight.

'Gosh, this girl has a lot of energy.' He thought, deciding to take a brief glance of Joohyun. She looked exhausted from all those screaming and the other passengers in the front looked back at her and gave her a glare. But he doesn't care about those passengers and wrapped her with his blanket.

He felt worried for Joohyun since it's her first time to go on a flight after years and years of staying inside a house with filtered air. Thinking as a med student, her nervous system wouldn't develop much and she couldn't survive that much long outside.

"Joohyun, you wouldn't survive that long outside! I don't want to see you hurt!" Seungwan gave her a pleading look.

Yet Joohyun shrugged and showed him two plane tickets through her window. He gave her an incredulous look and then sighed. "I'm sorry but I really want to go! Besides, I wasn't even hurt when I ran to help you. I just want to experience something new!" The girl gave Seungwan a sad pout.

"But that's different, Joohyun—"

"So? Would you come with me or not? It's fine, since I'll just go to Jeju to swim. Nothing else, really." She sat back against her chair with her arms crossed. Seungwan stared at her, looking stunned by her decisions. He wanted to stop her but at the same time, he doesn't want to even force her. He understand how much she desires on going outdoors but this has been already too much for her.

Also, the outside world is too dangerous for her. But it looks like she's really up to a challenge.

"Fine, I'll go there by my own." She sighed about to end the call when Seungwan blurted, "I'll go too,"

Joohyun gazed at him in surprise for a mere second and grinned. "Great! We'll be leaving tomorrow at twelve noon. See yah!" She ended the call and gave him a wink.

Seeing that smile made his day but he knew right away that he'll never see that smile ever again someday.


	10. First Time in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai guys. Been taking a long time to update this story, sorry about that. Hopefully you enjoyed this another new chapter, and please give kudos for the story if you love them. You can comment your thoughts about this chapter, of course. Also, please forgive me for my awful spelling or grammar errors in this chapter. I didn't proofread it because I don't want to (lol), and that's all! See you in the next chapter! :D

Joohyun slowly opened her eyes and realized she's standing in the beach shore. The gentle waves massaged her feet and the feeling of stepping on the wet sand made her relax.

The sea breeze was cool and her long, beautiful black hair gently flowed with it. The atmosphere was tranquil, calm, with few people swimming and walking near the shoreline. The sky wasn't that much bright, making it the perfect time to spent some time in this nice beach. Joohyun breathed in some fresh air with her eyes closed to feel the vibe when she heard a baby giggling from a distance.

She turned her head to the right and saw a mother entertaining her baby girl who is lying inside the stroller. The baby's mother was showing her a stuffed rabbit, causing the baby's magnificent black, doe-like eyes to twinkle in wonder.

Joohyun watched the little baby and chuckled after seeing her taking the rabbit from her mother and hugging it like it's the most precious thing in the world. As the mother started whispering to her baby, Joohyun could clearly hear it like she's wearing a small microphone beneath her shirt.

"Sweetie, Mommy will be buying some drinks, alright? I'll be back in a second." The mother smiled endearingly before kissing the baby's forehead. She cooed in reply and continued to play with her stuffed rabbit.

The girl decided to go closer to the stroller to talk to the baby even just for a little while. As she sat right beside the stroller, she noticed that the rabbit that the baby was playing looks familiar.

Well, not Joohyun's current bunny, Kkulbbangi, it's her first stuffed bunny.

Kkulbbangi wasn't even as white as that rabbit, she's honey-colored and looks similar to a bread. "Hayangi..." muttered Joohyun after seeing the rabbit's name in her tummy.

Next, she tried to touch the stroller and her hand just went through the object. The baby cooed and bit the rabbit's ear while happily watching her mother buying drinks from a nearby store. "It's me!" She gasped after seeing the name in the baby's over-all. It's her when she was little and she's thought right away that they are in Hawaii.

People around this area look different and the language that they are speaking is clearly English. Joohyun is even shocked that her mother could even speak in English after eavesdropping her small talk with the seller in the store.

It felt real, especially when she felt the sand and water on her feet and the air that she's currently breathing in.

"Thank you so much!" beamed the younger version of Mrs. Bae at the seller before going back to the baby's stroller. "Joohyun, sweetie, I'm back." sighed her mother as she sat back down on the cloth. Mrs. Bae quirked a brow after not seeing her baby responding.

"Sweetie? Is my baby sleeping?" Her mother caressed her little head lovingly. Her eyes are glued on the baby's chest and noticed that it wasn't even rising and falling. That where her face suddenly turned pale.

"Hyunjoo? Yeobo?" A man with an orange backpack approached Mrs. Bae, looking concern. His hair was long and jet black and tied into a neat ponytail. He has small, sharp eyes and looked a lot like Joohyun.

"Jungho, Joohyun isn't breathing." cried Mrs. Bae, quickly putting aside her cocktail. "What?" Joohyun's father puts his cheek inches away from the baby's face to check if she's breathing. His face went pale too and looked at his wife. "We should take her to the hospital." Mr. Bae tried his very best to stay calm while taking the drink.

"Give me the stroller and bring her inside the car quickly." His voice sounds grave and stern, yet Joohyun could see the fear in his eyes. Mrs. Bae did his orders and brought out the baby from the stroller before running towards the car.

When everyone boarded the car, Mr. Bae started the car and immediately drove out of the beach.

She was stunned, clearly doesn't know what to say.

So what Mrs. Bae had told her was true. She thought that she's just exaggerating the story by telling her that she almost died when she was little.

"Ah!" Joohyun felt a pang of pain in her head. It went in suddenly and it's excruciatingly painful, the feeling like your head is going to explode any minute. She knelt to the ground and closed her eyes tightly with her hands grasped the sides of her own head.

Now she felt dizzy and everything went black abruptly. The pain disappeared but she couldn't see anything, just black.

"Joohyun? Wake up,"

She heard a sweet, low voice coming from a boy. It echoed in her head for a while when she opened her eyes and saw Seungwan looking at her anxiously.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked. Joohyun looked around and remembered that they are going to Jeju Island. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." She cleared her throat and panted heavily.

"Here, drink water." The boy took the plastic cup full of water from his table and gave it to Joohyun. "Thanks..." Joohyun sighed, drinking the water slowly. Seungwan hugged her, wrapping her with his warm, gentle hands around her body. The girl was trembling and looked as pale as ever.

"We'll landing here after probably fifteen minutes. I could see the island from here now." He peered through the window near Joohyun and saw the majestic island of Jeju, resting upon the clear, blue ocean.

"Woah..." Joohyun couldn't take her eyes off the island even though feeling weak and cold. Seeing an island with her own eyes and not from the Internet overwhelms her. "It looks much better than the picture I saw in my phone." She muttered under her breath. "Alright, get ready now. You'll be seeing Kkulbbangi again a little later." grinned Seungwan.

+

Landing and departing wasn't Joohyun's favorite part in flying. She felt her stomach churning violently, having the urge to throw out inside the plane. She concentrated on holding the feeling and thankfully, there are no distractions.

Her mind was just full of 'DON'T THROW UP, DON'T THROW UP' and nothing else.

Meanwhile beside her, Seungwan did not notice her state after he closed his eyes and sat still(it's his way on handling this situation) until they finally landed safely to Jeju International Airport.

"You alright, Joohyun?" Seungwan opened his eyes and glanced at the girl. Joohyun nodded and grinned at him, as if she hadn't felt a thing while landing. "When will I see Kkulbbangi?"

"Hmm, once we arrive in the beach hotel." he answered. The plane came into a full stop and passengers began to get up and take their baggage.

"Are we allowed to go out of this plane?"

"Yup, come on now. I'll be taking our backpacks from the compartments." He gave her a warm smile before getting up and opening the compartment door to take their bags. Together with the rest of the passengers, Joohyun and Seungwan went through the jet bridge into the airport of Jeju. "So we're here in Jeju now? Like, for real?" She looked up at Seungwan with her eyes gleaming in excitement.

"Yup," He replied with a chuckle after seeing Joohyun wearing that contagious smile.

Joohyun wanted some time to explore the airport but she decided to save up some energy after the one-hour plane ride with a lot of stuff that has happened. They both went to the immigration and then to the conveyor belt where they'll take their luggage.

Joohyun gave the luggage a perplexed look, trying to figure out how they'd get here when they left it in the airport back in Daegu. Seungwan took the two luggage from the belt and peered at the girl, who is looking like she's doing some extreme mathematical solutions in her head. "Hey, what's up?" laughed Seungwan happily.

He finds this kind of Joohyun cute. With her brows furrowed, her messy high ponytail and her eyes clearly tells you that she is apparently having deep thoughts. "Hey," He tapped her shoulder when the girl jumped.

"What are you thinking?" He tried to hold his laugh.

Joohyun blinked a few times and told him how the luggage arrived in this airport when they first left it back in Daegu International Airport. He laughed at how innocent and adorable this girl could be and hugged her tightly. "Hey! Answer me first before you laugh!" She glared at him when he kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you,"

"Me too but—"

"I'll explain when we ride the taxi." beamed Seungwan.

Shortly after their luggage got checked in the airport, the two took a five-minute ride towards the beach hotel. Seungwan also explained to Joohyun about how their luggage moved from Daegu to Jeju, which of course, surprises Joohyun. She'd never heard something like that about airports.

"I thought they'll confiscate the luggage." She said in surprise. "No wonder your luggage is lighter and your backpack is heavier." Seungwan muttered with a smirk. Joohyun punched his shoulder and glared at him. "Shut up," She blushed and held onto her backpack tightly.

The driver who is in his 60s took a peek of them through the rear-view mirror and smiled brightly. "You two surely are a perfect couple. Well, I guarantee that Jeju would be an ideal spot for honeymoons and dates." The driver chortled gleefully. Seungwan and Joohyun blushed after hearing his words.

Honeymoon? Nah, we're just here to date.

But it isn't that similar? Oh, whatever, Joohyun thought in her head and rolled her eyes internally to ignore the thought.

When they finally arrived, the hotel stood in front of them, tall and white as marble. Joohyun read the sign, _Ocean Grand Hotel._

"Cool..." murmured Joohyun, looking up at the hotel with a thrilled smile. "Thanks for the ride!" Seungwan gave the driver and cordial smile before the taxi left. "Shall we?" He grinned and lead the way towards the entrance, carrying their two luggage into the hotel.

"This is the hotel that I find perfect for your taste. Simple, and right beside the beach." He proudly tell her while opening the room. "This is nice, Seungwan!" Joohyun hugged him tightly, nuzzling her face into his broad chest. He hugged back and closed the door behind him. "Alright, let's go fix our stuff and rest."

"Rest? But I wanna go somewhere! Probably we could just walk around the beach. Besides, the beach is just like, in front of us right now!" Joohyun ran towards the balcony with a grin in her face.

Seungwan thought, sure, I could just bring her to the shore and let her explore for a while.

"Let's go now, please!" She suddenly appeared in front of him, giving him a pout and puppy eyes. With that look, he guessed that I couldn't say no. After all, she has a lot of energy stored inside her petite body. "Alright, come." Seungwan took her hand and pulled her outside the hotel room.

The two quickly went back down two floors and finally ran out of the building, breathing the fresh breeze from the ocean. They took a five minute walk towards the beach, taking pictures and laughing at jokes during that until they finally have reached Hamdeok Beach.

Seeing the beach in real life is more magical and fantastic than in her dreams and the internet. The waves are truly blue and a few people and families swam there.

The girl thought about sitting near the water and eating snacks with Seungwan when she realized that she didn't brought backpack.

"Oh wait! I should've brought some snacks—"

"I brought them," cuts off Seungwan, showing Joohyun a bag full of snacks with four bottles of water inside. She looked up at him in amusement, wondering how much prepared he could be more than herself.

"Alright! Let's go now!"

The girl ran towards the breezy beach while giggling nonstop. Seungwan tried to warn her to slow down after seeing her stumble in the sand a few times and that he could barely catch up after his feet touched the sand for the first time in two years. It felt a little mushy than the regular ground itself so he decided to stay where he was and play with the sand by kicking them and massaging his feet against the grains.

"Seungwan-ah! Hurry up!" He heard Joohyun's distant call from the shore. Looking up from the sand, he saw Joohyun kicking the water like a little kid while laughing constantly.

"Coming!" cried the boy as he ran as fast as he can towards Joohyun. "Ha!" Joohyun splashed some salt water at Seungwan.

"Hey!" he wanted to take revenge but he restrained himself, thinking that she'll probably be mad at him. So instead, he hugged her and pulled her away from the shore. "Come on, you aren't even wearing a swimsuit." Seungwan pecked her in the cheeks and took the picnic cloth from the bag.

The girl pouted. "But I wanna swim now," the girl sat on the cloth and grabbed a snack from the bag. Seungwan did the same, taking the same snack as Joohyun.

He let out a sigh as he lied down. "So, what are your plans for tomorrow? We'll be resting today after you almost throwing up inside the plane." chortled Seungwan while eating his snack.

Meanwhile, Joohyun's face became as red as strawberries and punched him hard on the chest, causing Seungwan to moan in pain. "Ouch...sorry then..." His voice was several octaves higher and topped it with a handful of coughs.

"That's what you get for teasing me. For your information, I'm also a black belt in Taekwondo." bragged Joohyun with a cheeky smirk on her face. "Gosh, I-I didn't know you could do that." stammered Seungwan, banging his chest with a smile. "You didn't look like you took martial arts."

"Then, you've learned your lesson to never judge someone by their appearance." Joohyun simply told him while crossing her arms in a sassy manner. "Alright,"

They both watched the waves washed to shore calmly, hearing distant laughs and giggles from the children playing in the sea water, wearing their little floaties. The day was perfect, even after feeling queasy during the one-hour flight. But that's fine, after all that laugh with Seungwan.

Joohyun enjoyed how the sea breeze cooled her body and mind, removing all the problems she had in her mind.

But she wondered, what could her mother be doing right now?

She has been away for apparently 3 hours, her mother would be panicking hard to find her daughter suddenly disappearing. She doesn't know what to feel, mad, guilty, desperate, frustrated.

Thinking about her dream, she's been overthinking that that would happen again, but the other side of her said that that's just a typical nightmare. She just wanted to experience this, but...at the same time, she felt like what she's doing is totally wrong.

Imagine your mind being so messy and confusing, that would be so stressful.

She tried to shake the thought out of her head by literally shaking her head and watching the little children playing in the salty waters. Yet that doesn't work at all, which made her more infuriated. "Hey, lie down." Seungwan pats the place right beside him. Without even answering, Joohyun lied down beside him and scooted a little closer to him.

Her eyes looked up at the sky, with fluffy clouds blocking the sunlight.

"It's cloudy today, isn't it?" whispered Seungwan, cuddling the girl while sighing contentedly. "Mhm," She hummed in response, zoning out a little with her thoughts. They stayed silent for a while, with Seungwan closing his eyes, looking like he's taking a short nap while Joohyun's eyes roamed every area of the beach.

She still couldn't believe that she's already in a beach with her boyfriend, the love of her life.

"Hey," Joohyun turned her head to him. Seungwan's eyes are still closed but he quirked his brow curiously. "Yeah?" replied Seungwan, hugging her even tighter. "You're handsome, like really handsome."

Seungwan opened his eyes and glanced at the girl. "Really? I never see myself handsome ever since." He replied.

"Ya, you are handsome, inside out. You got that cute nose, an attractive jawline, those wonderful dark brown eyes, everything. And, you have a heart of gold, being the most adorable person, being simple, and you being yourself."

He then made a crooked smile and chuckled. "Thanks, that made my day, really." he blushed and scratched his neck bashfully, which Joohyun find it cute. "What? You don't think that you're handsome?"

"I don't know. My mom and my sister kept telling me that I look fine when my friends keep telling me that I wouldn't have a girlfriend because of my looks." He shrugged. The girl furrowed her brows. "What? Take me to your friends. I'm gonna deal with them with my skills." She flexed her fists and pursed her lips cutely.

"Woah there, you may be adorable but what you're going to do is dangerous."

"But those punks told you that you're not attractive enough, so I'm gonna prove them they're wrong."

Seungwan laughed and kissed her in the cheek tenderly. "Thanks for being like this, but please don't hurt my friends." he whispered when Joohyun nodded and went back to looking up at the sky. "I just want to say that I love you. I want to be with you forever, just spend time together, laugh together, do stuff together." She turned her head to him and grinned brightly.

"Yeah, me too. Yet your mother doesn't like me nor does she want to see my very face." he responded a little sadly. "I mean...I didn't even do anything wrong, right?"

"Of course not, you've done nothing wrong at all. My mom was just being to protective." she said, pinching his cheek.

"Sure," Seungwan paused, adjusting his position to sit down while Joohyun did the same. "I was just worried about our future. Maybe we couldn't be together, maybe...your mom would hate me even more when she knew that we were having a vacation here in this island."

Both fell silent after realizing that their relationship would probably not have a bright future. It affected Joohyun so hard, tears formed in her eyes after hearing the thought.

"Let's not focus on the future, alright? Let's think about the present, right now. Like, let's go jet skiing, visiting attractions here and make a lot of good memories."

They turned their heads at each other and chuckled softly. "Alright," he lunged his face forward slowly, kissing the girl right on the lips passionately. "I love you,"

"I love you too, Seungwan." Joohyun replied with a smile and hugged him tightly.

-

A/N: Hai guys. Been taking a long time to update this story, sorry about that. Hopefully you enjoyed this another new chapter, and please vote for the story if you love them SO MUCH. You can comment your thoughts about this chapter, of course. Also, please forgive me for my awful spelling or grammar errors in this chapter. I didn't proofread it because I don't want to (lol), and that's all! See you in the next chapter! :D


	11. Bonding with Nature

They spent the day by eating lunch and dinner in a restaurant and by walking around the beach, planning on where they'll be going the next day.

It's a little hard to decided after Jeju have a lot of exquisite tourist spots.

Sitting at the couch, Joohyun searched in the internet on what to visit first. She wanted to go somewhere where nature is more revealed and exposed. Her eyes have been tired for seeing houses, cars and people walking around her neighborhood. All she wants is privacy, only the two of them, walking around a field of flowers, if Jeju have that.

"Hey," Seungwan walked behind the couch and cuddled with his girlfriend from behind. "Hey, I wanna go somewhere nature-y where there are barely any buildings seen. Are there any

Luckily, Seungwan knew some attractions here in this island and told Joohyun that they should go to the Olle trail, the perfect place to see flowers and fields. Joohyun's eyes twinkled in wonder after hearing the details about the attraction. "Can we go there right now? I mean, it's just a 53-minute ride." she pleaded like a child, turning her head

"Not now, I told you that you need to rest today." he said, pinching Joohyun's cheek. She frowned and slapped his hand. "I didn't say a thing,"

"Just hug me, Seungwan." she gritted her teeth, her eyebrows furrowed angrily. The boy nuzzled his face on Joohyun's neck and smelled her soft vanilla cologne with a small smile. "Alright,"

They slept in two different beds, which made Joohyun even mad internally. She even noticed that Seungwan drools a little, which she actually finds endearing if you ask her. Her eyes were wide open all night and she could barely feel a hint of grogginess for hours.

She lost track of time after thinking and thinking about what happened to her mother back in Daegu, imagining a handful of scenes in her mind.

First, she imagined her mother yelling at her like a lunatic while her hands clumsily and heavily felt her body from her arms to her legs and it bothers Joohyun a lot. It felt like Mrs. Bae wanted to clog up her veins until she dies. Second, a scene played in her head where Mrs. Bae just ignores her for approximately a year.

Then another one played where her mother just send her out of the house and screamed at her to never come back again.

Joohyun flinched at the thought and covered herself with the blanket. If only Seungwan was right beside her, she wouldn't be thinking too much about those awful imagines. Then again, she tried to find a happy memory to make her sleep. The memories of her and Seungwan back in the days where they first met played in her head again and again.

Where they first knew each other's names until they confessed each other's feelings.

Then the images shifted with a man sitting on a chair right beside her bed, stroking his daughter's black hair. His low, sweet voice starts ringing gently in her ears as he started to sing her favorite lullaby.

_'Close your eyes, it's alright,'_

_'I won't leave you alone,'_

_'Cause I love you'_

_'Sleep now, my little bunny'_

_'I'm here to calm your heart and your soul'_

_'Because I love you.'_

_The song finished with a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Joohyun. Sleep tight." whispered Mr. Bae with a smile before finally leaving his daughter._

"Goodnight, Dad."

"Joohyun, wake up, sleepyhead."

Joohyun opened her eyes slowly to see Seungwan wearing an apron and a cute chef's hat. "Huh?" croaked Joohyun, stretching her body with her eyes closed again.

Seungwan sat on her bed and kissed her on the lips. "Ah, Seungwan, not now." pouted Joohyun. The boy didn't listen and kissed her again, this time, a little longer. "Mph!" she started to giggle when he started to pepper kisses all over her face. "Stop that!"

"It's time to wake up. Kkulbbangi fell on the floor too." Seungwan pointed the bunny sitting at his bed, her 'chubby' arms crossed. "She's mad at you now." he said, even though it didn't look like it was mad.

Joohyun chuckled and got up from bed. "Fine, what's for breakfast?" asked Joohyun, taking her stuffed bunny, which is as large as herself and the bunny looking like a chonky loaf of bread(that's why her name is 'honey-bread'). "Say sorry to Kkulbbangi first, she looks upset." Seungwan told her when the girl lifted her bunny to face it.

The bunny's head fell backward loosely and its long ears swinging behind it. "Sorry, I didn't know that you fell from my bed." she took a quick glimpse at Seungwan, who raised both of his brows and nodded his head like he was saying 'go for it'.

Joohyun sighed and looked back at the bunny. "Next time, I won't do that again. Love you too."

Seungwan then lifted the bunny's head up and puts it on Joohyun's shoulder. Next, he took its arms and wrapped it around the girl's neck. "Aw, she forgives you now! And you guys are now sharing a big, warm hug." giggled the boy, seeming to enjoy what he was currently doing.

Joohyun rolled her eyes and smiled, enjoying the moment too. "Such a baby," she pecked his lips and left the room.

"I made Tteokbokki for you!" Seungwan ran towards the kitchen counter, taking a bowl full of spicy rice cakes. "Great!" Joohyun sat on her seat and preparing her chopsticks to eat. "We'll be leaving at 8 AM and we'll be taking a bus."

"Bus? Is riding a bus like riding on a car?" questioned Joohyun, munching on her Tteokbokki. Seungwan took a piece and fed it to himself. "Well, it is. But more people are boarding the vehicle. That's all," he shrugged, chewing on another piece of rice cake. "Hey, where did you get those ingredients also? We didn't even went to a grocery store to get those." the girl quirked her brow, clearly perplexed.

"I went to a nearby store an hour ago by foot, that's all."

"I just like how you know this island."

"Well, my grandparents lives here." he responded. Seungwan got up from his seat and took Joohyun's already empty bowl. "I'll wash the dishes. Go prepare for our trip." he grinned when the girl nodded obediently and headed to the bedroom to prepare her outfit.

It actually took Joohyun a while to pick her outfit of the day after wanting to look pleasing in front of Seungwan. A while after, he entered the room and saw Joohyun staring at her closet anxiously. He silently walked behind her and hugged her from behind, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Whatever kind of outfit you wear, you still look pretty to me." he whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her ear.

The girl blushed and turned around, facing him. "Could you just choose an outfit for me then?"

"I told you, you can pick any outfit."

Joohyun pouted adorably and held his hand. "Please, I just want a good outfit for the trip. But I didn't know what to wear." she told him.

Seungwan pecked her lips as a reply and started finding an outfit for his girlfriend. "You know, you look cute with a skirt. Then a skirt and a shirt should do the trick." he took out a pink skirt and a white plain t-shirt. Joohyun beamed at the outfit and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, I'll be preparing now." she took her outfit and skipped cheerfully towards the bathroom.

Seungwan also changed his outfit and packed some snacks in his backpack for the two of them to eat during the trip. Joohyun came out of the bathroom after almost an hour and ran to the living room with her bunny-shaped messenger bag. "Ready?" asked Seungwan. He took the backpack and carried it on his back, the keys of the hotel room in his hands.

"Do you want me to keep the keys? Your backpack seem heavy." she quirked her brow.

"Nah, I'm fine. I'll keep the keys on my backpack." he paused, inserting the key into the keyhole of the door. "Are you sure that you got all of your stuff?" he added.

"Yup!"

"Alright, let's go."

They went through the elevator and arrived to the ground floor of the hotel. As usual, the hotel was quiet and tranquil, with the hotel staffs talking to its new guests softly and helping them bring their luggage to their respective rooms. So both of them stepped out of the hotel and walked a few blocks to arrive to the nearest bus stop.

Joohyun couldn't help but roam her eyes around her surroundings. Local restaurants dominated in this area and a few convenience stores spread in the streets. "We're here just in time." said Seungwan, looking a little astounded. The bus arrived as soon as they stood at the stop.

"After you," he helped Joohyun climb up the bus. "Thanks," she gave Seungwan a beam before excitedly taking a seat at the far backside where only a few people sat.

The boy followed her and sat beside her with Joohyun sitting right beside the window.

"I feel tall," she giggled, looking around the area through the window like a 5-year-old kid. Seungwan just smiled at her adorable actions. He remembered sitting here with his grandma, going on a mini trip around Jeju every time he and his family visits her here.

Until he last saw his grandmother in her grave, resting peacefully somewhere above. He went back to Jeju last year just to visit her grave by his own after his father refused to visit her. Seungwan also wanted to bring Seunghyeon but his mother told him to just listen to his ridiculous father to avoid any further trouble.

Seungwan hates his father from the very start. His mother deserved to have a better husband, not that stupid, stubborn man.

That madman just wanted money from his mother and refused to get a divorce with her.

His mother then had the option to go to court, only to end up getting violently beaten by his father and giving her grave threats if she does that. So she got no choice but to keep silent.

Seunghyeon was lucky that she didn't exactly know what was going on between her mother and father since it's enough to traumatize her. Seungwan, in the other hand, knew it too well. He remembered every single fight that happened between his parents and tried to hide that from his baby sister.

"Hey, are you okay?" Joohyun held his hand and looked at him in the eye. Seungwan went back to reality and looked at the concerned girl. "Oh, yeah." he moved a little closer to the girl and slowly puts his head on her shoulder.

"I'm always okay. Because you're here with me." he cooed, closing his sleepy eyes. Joohyun chuckled and ruffled his fluffy black hair. "Cheesy as always," she sighed before hearing her boyfriend snoring softly.

She did the same as she leaned her head on top of his and slept.

They slept for several minutes or so until Seungwan woke up just in time to see the bus about to leave the station. "Gah!" he gasped softly, abruptly standing up from his seat. The driver noticed his actions and stopped the bus immediately.

Joohyun opened her eyes and looked around. "Come on, we're here already." said Seungwan, taking her hand before helping her standing up and climbing down the bus.

"Well, that was close." giggled Joohyun, rubbing her eyes with a yawn. Both of them looked tired from the trip and their hair all messed up. Joohyun took a glimpse at Seungwan and simpered. "You look adorable when your hair is a mess." she commented gladly.

Seungwan giggled and kissed her crown. "You too," replied the boy, fixing her hair happily.

"Are we going to ride another bus?" asked Joohyun innocently. "Yeah, one more bus ride then we'll be arriving at the Olle Trail." he gave her an endearing smile. Joohyun nodded obediently and sat on the bench of the bus station. "Have you visited that place?" she asked while her legs dangled playfully.

Seungwan sat beside her and nodded. "Yup," was his only reply. "How was it? Was is pretty?" Joohyun's pupils dilated a little in curiosity. "Very pretty, just like you." Seungwan gently pinched her cute nose.

"Ya," the girl rolled her eyes, smacking his head playfully. "Oh, the bus is here." the boy stood up from the bench and watched the bus slowing down. Joohyun followed his actions and followed him climbing up the bus, sitting at the front seat with him.

"The Olle Trail actually goes all around Jeju." Seungwan told her as he looked out of the window of the bus. "Really? Well, that was astonishing." she turned her head at the boy. "How much time are we gonna wait then?"

"Hmm, 15 minutes?" he responded, his index finger tapping his chin. "Um, are we close? Because I couldn't wait any longer—"

"Here we are," whispered Seungwan, seeing the entrance of the trail a few feet away. "Then? Let's go!" she hissed, now getting irritated after all that trip. "Hey, don't be mad now. We're here already," he giggled, pecking kisses on Joohyun's cheek.

The bus finally arrived at the stop just nearby the Olle Trail when most people riding the vehicle stood up from their seats and went out of it, whispering and chatting about the Trail. "Seems like they'll be going on the Trail too." Joohyun looked a little downcast after hearing some of their whispers.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, I just want to walk down with you only." she sighed.

Seungwan smiled and wrapped Joohyun with his right arm. "Then let's walk a few meters away behind them, shall we? I don't want to see you upset."Seungwan kissed her crown lovingly. Joohyun grinned and walked towards the entrance of the Olle Trail.

The entrance of the Trail look incredibly pretty with orange and yellow flowers are ornamented the sidewalks with a blue horse-looking figure stood right in front of it while the map of the Olle Trail sat right on top of the flowerbed.

They entered the Trail and saw farmland behind the flowers while rocks are placed on the edges of the land. Joohyun was impressed by these and examined them for a while by touching them.

"Hey, you'll get dirty when you keep on touching that." Seungwan reminded her in a gentle manner.

Joohyun stood up and nodded with a grin. "Alright, I'm sorry. I'm just impressed with these." she pointed the soil of the farmland. Seungwan looked around, seeing if there are people around the area when he lunged his face to kiss the girl. The kiss was long and passionate until Seungwan, being his alert self, broke it when more people entered the Trail.

That leave Joohyun, stunned, her face as red as strawberries. "Let's go now. More people are arriving." he smiled, grabbing his girlfriend's hand and running away with her from the massive amount of tourists behind them.

The two laughed happily as they walked through the Trail, white stones displayed on the edges of the pathway. Thankfully, the weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold, just the right temperature for them to enjoy walking. They followed the tourists who're ahead of them, seeing farmland as they turned their heads left and right.

Some houses are also inside the Trail and Joohyun couldn't help but greet every person she sees. Seungwan like this behavior of her, cheerful and kind at the same time.

Next, they followed the tourists turning right and began climbing up the stairs. The two followed, walking another few meters after the stairs until they arrived on a balcony, seeing Jeju's beautiful green trees and fields and mountains standing far away.

They walked around the area and took pictures for an hour. "Welp, let's go to our next stop. We've been here for two hours." said Seungwan, walking back down the stairs with Joohyun behind him.

"Alright, where are we going next then?"

"Seongsan Ilchulbong,"

So without any pause, they walked out of the entrance of the Trail and ride a bus to Seongsang Ilchulbong, also known as the Sunrise Peak. They stepped out of the bus station and saw the entrance of the spectacular place.

"Woah, are we going to go up there?" Joohyun pointed the peek of the mountain. Seungwan nodded and took her hand with a beam. "Come on, you'll like this place very much." he ran with Joohyun, following the pathway made of stone. Joohyun looked around the place and saw green grass and trees everywhere she looked, the perfect place that she wanted for years in the house.

She inhaled the fresh, clean air and laughed as she and Seungwan ran to the right lane of the path. They ran and they ran, reaching a certain spot of the lane. Both of them panted, exhausted, although their smiles doesn't falter.

"That was awesome!" Joohyun hugged him. He hugged back, standing behind tree to take a breath. "We'll be going through those stairs, alright?" he pointed the middle lane of the path. Joohyun didn't know that there are different pathways to explore Seongsan Ilchulbong. She wished she explored all of those pathways.

"Come on now, I'll be bringing you somewhere after this." Seungwan gave her forehead a brief kiss and taking her up another flight of stairs. Trees stood each side behind the fences, making it easier for them to take some more rests.

After those flight of stairs, Seungwan turned to a narrow trail. "Let's take some pictures here." he went deeper into the trail and saw a 'tent' made out of rock. "Alright," the girl giggled, taking her phone out.

The next thing they did is that they went back to the original path. The cycle keeps going again and again, rest, and then go another flight of stars, then rest in a snack bar then stairs. They saw many kinds of plants in the wonderful attraction and stayed there for 3 hours.

Joohyun felt overwhelmed by the nature here in Jeju, where you only see mostly plants and flowers and barely has any tall buildings. She's been thinking if she'll live here with her boyfriend next time.


	12. A Train of Endless Thoughts

The two stayed in Seongsan Ilchulbong for three hours, taking pictures of the pretty flowers at the peek. They went back down, deciding to walk instead of jogging around again just like a while ago.

"I never knew jogging would be this tiring when there is sunlight." giggled Joohyun, linking arms with her boyfriend. "Told you. I tried to slow you down before to save your energy for our last destination today." Seungwan kissed her crown lovingly. "Besides, you told me that we're going to travel an hour to the Folk Village, right? So I'll probably regain my energy again." she twirled in the middle of the pathway.

"Sure," he replied, finally walking out of Seongsan Ilchulbong's entrance. "Bye-bye! I'll miss you so much!" Joohyun gave the place a flying kiss, making Seungwan laugh.

"Alright now, before going to the Folk Village, we have to eat lunch. It's already 1 PM." Seungwan checked his watch. "Where are we going to eat then?" Joohyun snaked her arms around her boyfriend's arm slightly muscular arm.

"There," he pointed somewhere blocks away from the entrance of the Sunrise Peak. "You'll like it there," is what he said before walking through the parking lot with Joohyun holding him tightly.

"Hello, welcome to our restaurant!" the owner of the restaurant gave both of them a cordial grin. Seungwan and Joohyun bowed in response and greeted back. "Thank you, Ahjussi!" Joohyun replied cheerfully. They took seat nearby a blackboard, which Joohyun found kinda unusual, with a waiter asking them what would they want to eat for lunch.

"Alright, coming right up!" the waiter grinned at them before leaving to take their meals. "Why is there a blackboard here?" questioned Joohyun, pointing at the blackboard beside her boyfriend. "Well, I used to write names of dinosaurs and cars here in this very blackboard." he touched the blackboard to find if his writings and drawings were still written there.

His fingertips gently brushing the other writings of people. Joohyun decided to read all of them and assumed that they are mostly letters and poems.

"Well, they're already smudged. But I won't forget about this place ever." he sighed. "You usually visit this restaurant with your grandma, don't you?" Joohyun placed her arm at the table casually. Seungwan nodded, looking lost at the blackboard.

"Can I write here?" she stood up from her chair, taking a tiny piece of chalk from somewhere below the blackboard. Seungwan nodded and watched her write: 'Joohyun and Seungwan' and drew a big heart around it. "Ta-da," the girl sat back on her seat with a satisfied smile. "I wrote it there to remember this place. If I ever came back here and if this won't smudge for a long time, I'll see this and remember you."

Seungwan stared at it for a while before staring at those wonderful, black eyes of hers. "Me too," he interlocked his hand with hers and kissed her hand lightly.

Not a moment later, the waiter came back while bringing their meals. "Here are your orders, sir. Enjoy your meal!" the waiter chirped as he puts the meals in front of them. "Thank you," thanked Seungwan before he finally left.

"He's kinda cute,"

Seungwan furrowed his brows at Joohyun as if she said sometimes disturbing. The girl saw his reaction and almost choked on her food. "Ya," she paused, wiping her lips with tissue. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing..." he grumbled, bringing his head down to hide his sullen face. "My boyfriend is being sulky." Joohyun pinched his cheek when he whined and clicked his tongue.

"Stop!"

"Are you jealous?"

Seungwan rolled his eyes and ignored her. "Yes, happy?" he ate his meal grumpily, refusing to look at Joohyun. "He may be cute but you're the cutest boy I've ever seen."

The boy smiled a little at the statement yet he tried to hide his smile to hear some more from her. "You're the most adorable, the most handsome, and the hottest boyfriend I've had."

Seungwan widened his eyes and looked at Joohyun incredulously. "H-Hot?" his voice cracked a little due to huge shock. "Of course, duh, is it wrong to call you that?" she asked, looking slightly annoyed. "N-No, it's just it's my first time being called...that..." he blushed, a pink hue slowly appearing at his cheeks.

His cheeks already hurts from feeling flustered though he like Joohyun calling him 'hot'. I mean, who wouldn't like to be called 'hot' from a pretty girl like her.

Looking at Joohyun again, she glimpsed back, giving him a brief wink.

Not long after their sweet lunch there, they walked to the bus station which is just somewhere in the same sidewalk as the restaurant. "Where are we going again? Jeju Folk Village, right?" asked Joohyun right after they sat on their seats on the bus. "Yup, a very cool place to me. They showcased the traditional lives here in Jeju."

"Really, huh? Tour me around if you will, hmm?" whispered Joohyun near his ear, the warmth of her breath tickling it. By smiling in response, they took a one-hour trip to the Village.

During the whole trip, Joohyun doesn't even feel like sleeping anymore. She's getting bored, just sitting here in this seat in the bus, waiting for it to arrive on their destination. Meanwhile, Seungwan ate a bag of chips, his cheek puffing up as he shoved some more pieces in his mouth. Joohyun stared at him weirdly and giggled. "Slow down," she told him, which made Seungwan blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry..." he apologized shyly, wiping his mouth with tissue from his bag. "That's fine," she paused and kissed him in the cheek sweetly. "I find it cute."

Seungwan chuckled while a pink hue appeared in his cheeks. "I love you so much." he whispered in her ear before eating another piece of chip. "I love you too," winked Joohyun, eating two pieces of chips.

"Are we getting any closer now? I'm getting bored again." pouted the girl. Seungwan nodded and puts the half-empty bag of chips back in his bag. "We're here now." he got up from his seat, helping Joohyun on getting up. "Another bus?"

"Another bus."

"Okay," Joohyun sighed loudly before sitting on the bench on the bus station. (Sorry for too much scenes like these xD)

Once they passed several stops with another bus and walking another few blocks, they arrived at the village's pretty entrance. The entrance gate was made using the traditional architecture and a map is placed just beside it. Without any further ado, they entered the gate and saw several groups of people visiting some huts.

"The huts look cute," Joohyun grinned up at her boyfriend. "They're cool. Come on, let's enter one of them."

They entered a restaurant designed as the traditional huts in the Village and took some snacks for their tour around the place. Walking even farther from the entrance, they could now see the 'real' village. The fences around the houses and some were made with dark rocks and stones and brilliant, green trees stood either beside houses or inside the fences of flowers.

Walking around the area already felt like they've been back in time, living a simple life in this wonderful village.

They also saw ladies wearing colorful _hanboks_ while dancing to a traditional song. Taking some time to picture the pretty dance, more performers started to perform on a certain area of the village with both of them eating their snacks.

The next few hours have passed, they stayed in one of the huts to take a break. To Joohyun's surprise, she realized that staying inside the huts are colder than outside.

Being the genius he is, he explained to her about how it's like that. Joohyun listened, although she didn't understand the others after being distracted with her phone. When Seungwan stopped for a while if Joohyun is listening, she gave him a sweet, adorable grin to let him continue. Seungwan just chortled. "Are you listening?" queried Seungwan when Joohyun nodded furiously.

"Of course!"

"What was I saying then?" he quirked his brow with a grin. Joohyun just sighed and gave him a peck on the lips. He rolled his eyes playfully and held her hand.

"Continue please. I love your genius side. It's just so attractive to me." she casually told him before eating a small bag of chips. "Is that your second bag?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that? You ate like three bags—”

"Sshh, it's our secret." the boy elbowed Joohyun, giving her a smug look. Sticking out her tongue at Seungwan, she got up from her place and took her bag. "Let's go home, I'm starting to get tired." she yawned and stretched her arms with her eyes closed. It is true that she's tired from all those trips yet she still doesn't want to leave the place.

"Yeah, same here." Seungwan got up and hugged her from behind when they heard crying. " _Eomma_? _Eomma_? Where are you..." a little boy appeared in front of the two and pouted. "Have you seen my _Eomma_?" he sniffled while holding his toy truck.

Being worried about the little boy, Seungwan knelt down to maintain eye contact with him and held his shoulders.

"Where did you last see your _Eomma_? Is she somewhere here?" he asked with a gentle voice. The boy nodded in response while tears streamed down his chubby cheeks. "I want my _Eomma_ ~" he cried, gripping his toy truck.

"Let's help him. It looks like he's been lost for almost an hour." Joohyun glanced at the little boy. "Have you been lost for a while now?" she questioned, looking at the boy in concern.

"Yes," he answered politely. "we'll find your _Eomma_ , don't worry, buddy." Seungwan gave him his handkerchief and wiped his tears. "What's your name?" Joohyun fixed his appearance by dusting his clothes.

"Han Domi and I'm four years old, my Eomma's name is Jo Haeul."

"What does she look like?"

"She has short hair and she wears a blue shirt." he replied and coughed a little. Not a little after their short interview with the boy, they started to search for his mother and walked around the village. The boy kept shouting ' _Eomma_!' and fell many times after not caring on whatever he stepped on.

"Aigoo, be careful on whatever you stepped next time, okay?" Joohyun dusted the boy's clothes after falling for the seventh time. "I'm sorry, _Noona_." apologized Domi, giving a small bow to her.

Joohyun chuckled and pats his head gently. "It's alright, but watch your step, hmm? I don't want your Eomma to see your hurt."

Seungwan watched the two and smiled lovingly. He thought that Joohyun acts exactly like a mother. Not gonna lie, Joohyun even fed him some of their snacks and gave him water while they walked under the hot, sunny sky.

"Domi? Domi, my baby!"

A woman who wore a blue shirt came running towards the three. Domi turned around and finally saw his mother. " _Eomma_!" he gave his toy truck to Seungwan before hugging his mother tightly. "Sweetie, why would you separate with me when you know that this is a big place?" Haeul, Domi's mother, asked him in a gentle voice while caressing his back.

"Sorry, _Eo-Eomma_. I will never leave you again~" cried the little boy against his mother's abdomen.

"It's okay, sweetie. Also, did something happened to you? Are you hurt?"

"No, _Eomma_. Noona gave me snacks and water and Hyung played with me." Domi turned to the two and gave them a cute grin despite having tear stains all over his cheeks. Haeul glanced at them and smiled. "Thank you so much for taking care of my child while I was gone." Joohyun and Seungwan gave her a bow. "No problem, _seonsaengnim._ We're actually really glad that he finally found you." said Joohyun.

"Hold on,"

Haeul took her bag and grabbed her wallet. Joohyun and Seungwan watched her suddenly and widened their eyes after she offered them some money. "Here take this with you."

"Oh, that's really fine, _seonsaengnim_ —"

"Please take it, _Noona_ , _Hyung_." Domi gave them a pleading look; his cute pout and his twinkling brown orbs. The two looked at each other, reluctant on taking that money or just let them keep it. "Come on, take it. Domi also agreed on giving this to you two." chuckled Haeul.

Then without any ado, Seungwan slowly took the cash from her. "Thank you, _seonsaengnim_." he gave them a grateful smile. "You're welcome, Hyung and Noona! Enjoy your date!"

Haeul let out a small 'goodness!' and hugged her son with a simper. "We will, buddy. I hope we'll see each other one day."

"Yeah! Eomma, can you take his number? I want to talk to him while we're away." The sneaky little boy quickly took her bag and took her phone. "Domi! Aigoo—"

"What's your number, _Hyung_?" Domi casually opened the phone and looked up at Seungwan with a grin. Joohyun doesn't think that this little boy could read numbers that much but hands him a slip of her boyfriend's number anyway. "Here you go," she crouched a little so she could see what the boy was doing with the phone.

Domi took the slip with confidence and took time to copy the number in the dial. "Done!" shouted Domi as soon as he pressed the call button. Not a little later, Seungwan's phone started ringing. "Ta-da! Now I could call you anytime!"

"Alright, that's enough of those, Domi. Goodbye for now, I bet you two are going home by now." said Haeul. "Bye, _seonsaengnim_!" is what they said before they finally separated.

They may be with the little kid for an hour yet they all felt their already close friends. Even Seungwan finds him adorable and witty, which made this thought dig deeper.

First, he reminded Domi of his little sister, Seunghyeon, and then next, he thought about meeting him tomorrow, if he would and it went on and on until he thought of having a little kid with Joohyun.

He thought about maybe their kid would look a lot like Joohyun or maybe just a mix of the two of them. _'Seungwan, stop thinking about that for now! Joohyun needs more time—'_

"You alright? You're frowning." Joohyun's voice suddenly cuts out Seungwan's train of thoughts.

He shook his head to go back to reality and realized that they're already standing in the bus stop, waiting for the bus to arrive. "O-oh..."

He was actually shocked that Joohyun exactly knew what to do but he felt himself blushing at his previous thought. He just couldn't stop thinking about that, where he and Joohyun as a married couple, having little kids who looked just like each other. He felt sad because he doesn't even know when will that happen...or if that would really happen in the future.

"Ya, you seem upset. Are you tired already?"

"Yeah, kinda." he gave her a sweet, genuine smile. "Me too,"

Then silence took over. It is true that both are exhausted of the trip, but they enjoyed it anyway. As they rode the bus, everything is at peace. They didn't talk much throughout the ride yet their clingy and sweet little actions towards each other kept going like holding hands while watching the day turning into twilight.

If only everything is okay, like Joohyun not having SCID and Seungwan's family being blissful and whole, they wouldn't need to have a problem about their future relationship. She knows that chances are slim that she'll live any longer after living in a house filled with filtered air and her having such a weak nervous system.

"Hey,"

"Yeah?"

"Since we still don't know what will happen in the next days, I'll just live my to the fullest with you and create many happy memories with you." said Joohyun softly, squeezing Seungwan's hand assuringly. "I agree," he replied with a small smile.

Joohyun took the time to stare at her handsome boyfriend and sighed wistfully. "Promise me that you'll never feel broken if I disappear, Seungwan." she told him as tears slowly filled her sparkling, black eyes.

The boy glanced at her with a concerned look. "Please don't blame nor hurt yourself if that happened, hmm? I know this world is full of unfair stuff but please, continue doing on what you're passionate about."

Seungwan went speechless about this. He just felt his heart aching while hearing that and sighed. He didn't want Joohyun to disappear, he couldn't live without her, it's like she's already an inseparable part of him. Without saying a word, he hugged her tightly, stroking her hair lovingly and nuzzling his face against her neck. Joohyun just chuckled and puts her head on his shoulder before going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update, hehe. I hope you enjoy this update! Anyways, sorry for some of the ‘repetitive’ scenes here but I promise you that the ending part will be interesting ;) (hopefully xD)

**Author's Note:**

> This story is actually based on the novel(or movie) ‘Everything, Everything’. Changed some scenes so it could be a little different :)
> 
> Also, this is the character's sickness: SCID is a group of very rare, life-threatening diseases that are present at birth. The disease causes the child to have very little or no immune system. As a result, the child's body is unable to fight off infections.
> 
> Also visit my other accounts too!:  
> Asianfanfics: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1850519
> 
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/_hwaiting
> 
> Twitter(I just retweet stuff there :>): https://mobile.twitter.com/whitthoughts


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